


Language Of Flowers

by AllMyShipss, Datmomfriend



Series: The Language Of Flowers [1]
Category: Lupin III
Genre: Blue jacket era, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Denial, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Grand displays of love, M/M, Masks, OCs as Plot Devices, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Suits, Undercover Missions, Undercover as a Couple, Venezia | Venice, gay clubs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 21:55:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 48,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19839271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllMyShipss/pseuds/AllMyShipss, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Datmomfriend/pseuds/Datmomfriend
Summary: Zenigata had worn a suit every day for years but Lupin had never seen him look this slick. His silhouette was all but perfect and Lupin felt it was a crime that he had been hiding it in that economically priced suit and crumpled mackintosh. It seemed Zenigata was realizing it himself too. There was something in how Zenigata was seeing himself that made Lupin's heart pulse."What's all this about, Lupin? Why are we playing dress up?" He asked."Because if you are going to be my bodyguard, it'll be nothing but the best." Lupin said it in a doting way and Zenigata could swear he saw the edges of Lupin's lips curling.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As far as Lupin continuity is concerned, we take the Part Five approach where it's only canon once it's been brought up. In this story we make reference to:
> 
> • The general events of Part Four as this takes place less than six months after that arc's conclusion.  
> • Farewell To Nostradamus  
> •The Alcatraz Connection  
> • Part II, Episode 4 "Morocco Horror Picture Show" 
> 
> None of this is required viewing but a comprehensive guide never goes a miss.  
> 
> 
> If you'd like updates on the newest stories in the "Language Of Flowers" series or would like to share them or any of our other stories, links are posted on my tumblr. Please follow and reblog at allmyshipsareproblematic.tumblr.com

"What do you mean you're taking me off the Lupin case?!?" Inspector Zenigata hollered into the phone in anger and he was pretty sure he had popped the eardrum of the commander in the other end of the line. He had been in Venice for only a few hours, hot on the trail of Lupin and his infamous calling cards, when he had gotten the call.

The ICPO had been investigating a suspected sex trafficking operation and it was all hands on deck. The women were being moved from Venice and across the Italian border into Solvenia which had propelled the incidents into the realm of international justice but no amount of border checks had uncovered how it was being done. 

It was strongly believed that a man by the name of Dutara Rosebay was the mastermind. He was leading suspect but all inquiries had turned up nothing. Raids on brothels and trafficking dens had gotten some murky and confused statements from some of the women who had been liberated and while none could give the organization anything more concrete than the sounds of engines and men's voices speaking both Italian and Slovenian, one of the rescued girls remembered crates with specific markings on them. A rosebud and a curling wave. The logo for Rosebay Shipping International. On that tip, the Italian police force had been able to set up "random" border checks on many of Rosebay's trucks. They had all come up empty. Crates of dark grapes and other perishables just as the shipping orders claimed but nothing damning.

What they needed was a direct confession from Rosebay or at least a way to uncover what his men were doing to smuggle the women across the border. Now Interpol was turning to the most tenacious detective they had. Inspector Kouichi Zenigata, the man who had chased the thief Lupin the Third across the world. Surely this man would understand being shifted to another case -

"Do you understand what will happen if I'm not chasing Lupin?!? He'll rob the country blind!!" 

The commander did not but there was little Zenigata could do about it. He was switched and that was that. Now three months had gone by and Zenigata hadn't made a single dent. Rosebay paid off dirty cops to keep his business interests safe. He was untouchable. Zenigata couldn't even get a meeting with the man. The inspector had been met at the door by just about every member of Rosebay's security detail, including the head of security who was a dour and unpleasant looking man with a ginger goatee, and with no appointment nor warrant, Zenigata was sent away with very little decorum. All the while Zenigata was forced to read the newspaper and hear the news on random television sets that Lupin was committing crimes all around the area. It was enough to make the old cop's blood boil. 

It had been another long and unproductive day and Zenigata returned to his hotel room. It wasn't anything special. A bed, a chair, a beat up old dresser and small bathroom. But it was clean and if he opened the french doors there was a beautiful view of the canals. For such a shabby place the view from the small balcony was breathtaking.

He couldn't enjoy the beauty tonight now. He was frustrated. He felt stagnant and useless. This was nothing like the high he felt when chasing Lupin. This felt futile. He felt like a failure. Zenigata collapsed in the chair and sagged, exhausted. He sighed and pulled off his hat and tossed it on the bed. 

"This is pointless." He grumbled. Everything seemed pointless without Lupin. He leaned his head back against the back of the chair and closed his eyes.

"Now now, Pops. No need to sound so despondent." The voice across the room was calm and knowing and sweetly optimistic. Zenigata's eyes snapped open. He knew that voice. Across from the inspector, sitting on the bed, was Arsene Lupin the Third. His ankle was crossed over his knee and he hung his elbow up on the iron rung of the bed's footboard. He was looking at Zenigata with a familiar sort of kindness.

"Lupin!" Zenigata yelled as he leapt to his feet. His hands went to his coat pockets as he searched for his handcuffs. "Why are you here? I may not be on your case right now but I can still arrest you!" 

Once he had finally found the cuffs he pulled them out and brandished them at Lupin. Lupin seemed unfazed and perhaps even amused by Zenigata's reaction. He shrugged, tossing his head to the side.

"I should have expected as much from you, Pops. Always on the job even when you're off the clock. And here I was hoping to give you a parting gift before I left Italy for good." Lupin sighed playfully. He held out his arms, wrists up in a mock pose of surrender. "But if you must, inspector, just go ahead and please do be gentle."

He frowned a little theatrically, eyes slipping shut in what could have been despair if he didn't break the mood a moment later by cracking open one eye and fixing Zenigata with his lopsided grin. The older man paused. 

"Parting gift? What kind of a trick is this?" He asked skeptically. The hand holding the cuffs dropped a little, showing he was still listening.

"No tricks here. Just my honest concern for your case." Lupin replied in a spirited way. He shrugged and pulled a slip of paper from his coat. He held it up to catch the light as he read "'Dutara Rosebay. Age thirty-three. A self-made millionaire best known for having shipping contracts with every vineyard in the Veneto region.' They say his tastes for wine are only outdone by his tastes for women and frivolity. He is also known for being notoriously hard to pin down for any kind of private interview or interrogation."

The cuffs disappeared inside of one of Zenigata's coat pockets. His mouth screwed up in distaste. 

"Ok, Lupin. You've got my attention." Zenigata sat on the edge of his chair, ready to jump up if the thief made the wrong move. "This... Rosebay, he a friend of yours?"

"Hmph, hardly." Lupin scoffed. He tossed the paper away and crossed his arms haughtily. He tossed his head to one side, casting his face into a profile that showed off this arched eyebrows and the upturn of his nose. "Any man who treats women the way he does is scum. No two ways about it."

A small smile touched the inspector's lips. 

"I didn't think so. You may be a criminal but I've never seen you mistreat a woman." Zenigata relaxed a bit into his chair but not entirely. He paused for a minute taking in the shape of the man in front of him. He found he had missed the reassuring presence of this man. "You must know about the trafficking then. We can't figure out how he does it. Every shipment he makes is checked and we always come up empty. You got any info on that?"

"Can't say I do, Pops." Lupin shrugged and he held his hands up at ear level. He stood, stuffing them in his pockets and approached Zenigata. He stood to one side of the man's chair, just a step out of Zenigata's line of sight. Lupin reached into his coat a second time. "But I may have a way out finding out."

He pulled out another slip of paper, this one thick, embossed card stock and held it out for Zenigata to take.

"Your parting gift." He explained. Another skeptic look was shot Lupin's way by Zenigata once more before he took the thick piece of paper from the younger man. His brow crinkled as he read the words there. Then a choked noise came from him as his eyes widened. He looked back at Lupin in amazement. 

"Rosebay is throwing a party and you got an invitation! I haven't been able to pin him down for months. Finds some way to fob me off every time." He glowered at the paper again. "Some gift this is. Now I know where he is but I don't have any way of proving he's the mastermind behind all this."

Lupin looked back over his shoulder, his smile easy.

"Come on Pops. I've always been a spectacular gift giver. And after I brought it all the way from Verona for you..." Lupin chided. It wasn't entirely untrue. He and his team had parted ways as often was the case after a series of heists became too intense, each taking different trains and never asking where the others were going. It was safer that way. They knew they would always find each other again when the time came. While he was sure the others had taken more direct routes to their destination in an attempt to leave Italy, which had already become too hot for them, Lupin had pressed his luck. He had traipsed up from San Marino, making small but substantial hits when they struck his fancy, with the intention of stopping by the time he got to Verona. From there he would decide if he would disappear over the Alps into Switzerland or perhaps return to his beloved France. It was then he had gotten wind of the Venice trafficking ring and that had made the decision for him. Lupin turned to stand behind Zenigata's chair.

"You're just looking at it all wrong. Yes, Rosebay Shipping International is centered out of Verona but Signor Rosebay's summer home is here in Venice. The elusive businessman is opening the gates and rubbing elbows with an elite few. Look," He leaned over the man, arm reaching out to point out the fine calligraphy as he read. "'You and a guest of your choosing are cordially invited to a masquerade on the fifteenth of August in celebration of Ferragosto'. How fitting that a guy making the vast majority of his money carting women around like meat is having such a big to do to celebrate The Virgin Mary's body ascending to Heaven. It'd be ironic if it weren't so classless." Lupin spat the last bit with a kind of mild disgust.

Zenigata quirked an eyebrow at Lupin's close proximity. He could just smell the delicate scent of Lupin's cologne. Clive Christian 1872. It had a citrus and lightly pepper scent and Zenigata could place it anywhere. 

"Are you asking me on a date, Lupin?" He joked mildly as he looked at the writing.

"When did you grow a sense of humor?" Lupin gave a short laugh and came back around. He bent at the waist and snapped up the invite. He studied it himself mildly. "All I know is you and the boys down at the ICPO are having a little trouble getting this guy to talk and if you had an in to this little soiree you might be able to hear all sorts of interesting things."

"You mean a confession? ICPO hasn't even been able to get close to Rosebay, let alone get him to talk." He was a bit annoyed that Lupin had outsmarted him even when they weren't on their little chase. "Since you seem to have this little shindig figured out, what are your bright ideas on how to get a confession out of this guy."

"You can just leave that all to me, Pops. But," Lupin took a hard seat back on the bed, crossing his leg smoothly. "You have to do exactly as I say. I can make this happen for you. All you have to do it trust me."

Lupin laid his chin in his hand and scrutinized Zenigata in a friendly way.

"Ha! Trust you?!" Zenigata sat up more in his chair and smirked at the thief. "You want us to work together?! That's a laugh!" The detective let out a bark of a laugh and slapped his knee. When he looked back at Lupin the man hadn't moved. He still looked at the older man with that searching expression. Zenigata sobered at that. His own searching look ran over Lupin. "Wait. You're serious."

Lupin folded his hands, fingers intertwined and he smiled widely. He leaned in toward Zenigata, shoulders up to his ears and legs outstretched in a posture of almost childlike pride at his admission. Zenigata sat back thunderstruck. Lupin was serious. Lupin wanted Zenigata to trust him. He mulled it over for a moment. 

"Alright, Lupin. I'll trust you this time but only because once I'm done with this case I can go back to catching you."

Lupin held his pose but his face fell in a genuine expression of surprise. He blinked owlishly.

"Oh yeah? You'll do it?" He asked. His confusion melted into unabashed happiness "That was way easier than I thought. You're not even going to ask what I want? That's fine by me, Pops."

Lupin all but giggled as he stood and made his way towards the door as if that was that. A wry half grin turned up one side of the older man's lips. 

"I should have known you'd want something out of this. It's not like you to be altruistic." He tilted his broad chin in lupin's direction. "Well, go on then. Tell me what this deal with the devil is gonna cost me."

Lupin looked over his shoulder and his grin was infuriating. He turned back, hands in his pockets. He mocked Zenigata with his bowlegged relaxed stance.

"It's nothing much. I just figured that once things are back to business as usual, you just let it slide next time we get into the tussle. Just a little freebie between friends." He said mildly.

Zenigata was drawn in. Lupin always drew him in. The fact that he wanted to trust Lupin now was proof of that. Yes, they had worked together under dire straights before but it was business as usual after. This felt different. Neither of them were in danger. Neither of them would gain much from this except the continuation of their years-long chase. Zenigata couldn't explain to himself why he was so eager to continue with their little game. He licked his lips and reached into his coat pocket for his cigarettes. He spoke as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Guessin' you've got some big heist planned and you don't want me interfering'. Fine. I don't like it but one more theft from you won't make you any less guilty. You've already earned yourself a life sentence. Another count isn't gonna change that." It was said almost loftily before he took a long slow drag from his cigarette. "That party is tomorrow night. What should I expect?"

"Expect," Lupin lifted a knowing finger and gave Zenigata a wink, unable to resist the line just set out for him. "The unexpected."

Lupin was exceedingly pleased with his turn of phrase it seemed, as he turned heel again and let himself out, closing the door smartly but still somehow silently.

"Humph. " Zenigata grumbled as he smoked. He always knew to expect the unexpected with Lupin. He felt a tad offended that Lupin felt he had to say it.

"Oh! And Pops?" Came Lupin's voice as he quickly opened the door and stuck his head into the room "Do try to look decent. Have a shave and shower before I pick you up for our date. Seven o'clock. See ya."

There was a silly singsong in his voice that he knew set the inspector on edge. Lupin didn't wait for an answer as he slammed the door. Zenigata almost choked on his own cigarette. He had been joking about Lupin taking him out on a date but to hear Lupin say it was really too much. The cop bit through the filter and the burning end of his cigarette fell into his lap. He jumped up and tried to brush the embers off his pants as quickly as he could. 

"Damn Lupin." He growled as he stood alone in his hotel room. He tossed the filter into the trash can and got himself ready for bed.

  
The next evening Zenigata stood in his bathroom shaving after his shower. He very much missed the baths of Japan. The quiet contemplation and relaxation he found there was unmatched by anything else. As he had followed Lupin around the world he had found the virtue of a quick shower helpful in his hurry up and wait lifestyle. Now he stood in the small bathroom with a towel around his waist as he swiped the last few lines of shaving cream off his face. Using a soft washcloth he wiped his face off of any excess shaving cream and checked himself in the mirror. 

The inspector had never regarded himself as handsome but he thought he looked pretty good for a man his age. He gave his reflection a flirty look before shaking his head in annoyance and moving back into the main room. He wondered how long it would be until Lupin showed up.

There was barely a click of the lock before the door swung open and Lupin sauntered into the room. Although the word saunter may not have been the most apt with how Lupin was bogged down. He had a canvas bag and it hung high on his shoulder as Lupin's arm was held all the way up with the hook of a garment bag hanging from his fingers to keep it straight. In his other hand he held the slim silver shaft of a lock pick and between his teeth, the zippered case it came in. He was distractedly trying to put one in the other and zip it in with its brothers as he came in.

"Hey, Pops." He muffled around the leather.

"Lupin!" Zenigata hollered. He crouched behind the bed and glowered at the other man. "Ya ever heard of knocking?? Close the door! I've only got a towel on." He knew he must not look very official in this position.

Lupin had succeeded in closing the lockpick set and was tucking it into his back pocket. He reached out behind him with his foot and toed the door closed. He chuckled to himself, unconcerned with Zenigata's state of dress. He has seen the man with his pants down on several embarrassing occasions and had once seen him in full drag at Carnival in Rio in a misguided attempt to catch Lupin off guard. That had almost worked too and Lupin did not know who out of the two of them should have been more uncomfortable over it. Needless to say, Pops and what he did and didn't wear didn't surprise the thief anymore.

"Well I told you to be ready and I try my best to be punctual." Lupin glanced at his watch and cheerfully ignored that it was only 6:30. He hung up the garment bag on the curtain rod and deposited the bag on the bed, sifting through its contents. When he was satisfied that everything he needed was still inside he turned back to the garment bag. Only then did Zenigata notice the second hanger Lupin had put up there. An ivory dinner jacket with black trim and notched lapels hung pressed and pristine from the curtain rod. The contents of the garment bag were still obscured within. Zenigata also noticed Lupin's attire. White shirt with black buttons and a matching black bowtie. Black slacks with a smartly pressed crease and patent leather shoes so shiny they all but gleamed. His cuffs hung open. Lupin fussed with the garment bag, smoothing it down and inspecting it for imperfections.

Zenigata stood once the door was finally shut. He and Lupin had seen each other in their underclothes before but this was far beyond that. While holding tight to the edge of his towel he came around the bed and his eyes trailed over Lupin's form. He looked lean and young and it surprised Zenigata that even though he knew everything about Lupin he didn't often really _look at_ him. He moved to the dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers and an undershirt. 

"What's all that stuff for? One of the others gonna help ya out with this plan of yours? Is it Jigen?" The detective paused as in his movements as he reached the closet to grab a fresh suit out. "For that matter what is your plan? You haven't let me in on anything."

"Oh, he's got you now, Jigen. Come on out." Lupin tittered, poking a finger into the unresisting vinyl bag. Lupin turned and saw Zenigata moving to take his haphazardly hung suit out from the closet. He crossed the room to him.

"Oh no, don't you put that cheap salaryman suit on." Lupin told him in an amused if somewhat finicky way. He placed his hand firmly over Zenigata's and lowered the hanger back onto the rack. "It makes you look like you slept in your suitcase."

"Hey!" Zenigata grumbled as he glared at the younger man. "My suit is just fine. I ain't got time to get everything pressed while I'm chasing you everywhere." He pulled his hand out from under Lupin's.  
"What should I wear while I wait for you then?"

Lupin smiled at that as if he were an actor who had just been given a cue. He quickly moved his jacket out of the way and snatched up the garment bag. He held it out to Zenigata, draping it over his arm dramatically.

"For you, my dear inspector." He announced proudly. Blinking owlishly, Zenigata turned his gaze between the garment bag and Lupin. 

"F-for me? What for? What's going on, Lupin?"

"Just put it on." Lupin cajoled, shoving the bag into Zenigata's arms to where he almost dropped his towel and underclothes. When Zenigata looked back at Lupin, he waved his hand, palm down, in a smooth glide at the bathroom. It was either a welcoming gesture or a dismissive one and Zenigata couldn't tell which. Lupin's voice was that of the friend convincing you to take the second slice of cake. Or the third. 

"Go on." A pause and when Zenigata didn't move, another sweep of the arm. "Go on, go on."

Zenigata made small disgruntled noises. He hemmed. He hawed. But finally he went back into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Ten minutes later the door cracked open but no Zenigata appeared. 

"It's tight." He said before shutting the door again. It wasn't actually tight. It was just tailored and Zenigata wasn't used to that. A well fitting suit wasn't something he had had before. Lupin, who had taken a seat on the bed and passed the time by putting on his amber and gold cufflinks, leaned a bit out and tried to see around the corner. No luck.

"It's fitted." He correctly kindly. The door opened again. Just a bit. 

"It's too fitted. How'd you know my size?" Again the door shut with the inspector still inside. Lupin shrugged. He stood and took the few steps to the door, hands in his pockets.

"Lucky guess. Or a series of lucky guesses. You wouldn't believe the time I had getting it tailored though. Everything's closed today for Ferragosto."

There was a pause on the other side of the door. Then it opened a little more than the last time. A sliver of the old man's face could be seen.

"I look like yakuza." He said but this time the door didn't close.

"Really? Let me see! Should I call you Oyabun?" Lupin couldn't help the teasing excitement in his voice. His smile almost reached his ears.

"Don't call me that!" Zenigata yelled from the other side of the door. He almost closed it again but there was something in Lupin's playful look that kept him from doing it. The door opened ever so slightly more. "Lupin, is this suit stolen?"

Lupin propped his elbow up on the door frame and crossed his ankle. A hand on his hip completed the conversational pose.

"You know Cinderella's fairy godmother stole that pumpkin right out of the pumpkin patch before she turned it into a carriage." Lupin asserted logically.

"Are you calling me a princess?" Zenigata growled from behind the door.

"Now I never said that. I never did." Lupin lifted a prudent finger in his defense. The implication had not been his intention but now that he thought about it, he couldn't suppress the mildest giggle. Zenigata's eyes narrowed from his slit in the door at the giggling thief. 

"Is it stolen or not?"

"How could I do something so heartless to that nice Armani fellow? He has to keep the lights on somehow." Lupin joked. Judging by the crinkled brow peaking out at him Lupin felt his sense of humor wasn't appreciated.

"The suit is paid for. And the tailoring too." He conceded. Lupin hadn't exaggerated when he said it had been a feat to find a tailor on an Italian national holiday. He had lugged the suit all over town that day, enviously watching families and couples enjoying their day off. Lupin would be lying if he said he wouldn't rather be relaxing on Malamocco beach and having summer fun instead of carting a wool suit all over creation looking for a tailor that was actually open. On the water taxis no less. Arsene Lupin the Third had been reduced to running errands on public transportation but in the end he did find an out of the way place in a little square where the old man boasted he hadn't closed his doors a single day for upwards of twenty years. Lupin hoped the man's work had paid off.

Opening the door a bit more, the inspector scowled at Lupin and thought about arresting him on the spot but he needed the other man to get to his target.

"Alright. Cut it out. I'll come out but if you so much as snicker at me I'm going back in. You got it?"

Lupin took a step back to give Zenigata some space.

"Scout's honor." Lupin assured him. The door opened and Zenigata stepped out in the suit. He had thrown it on, that much was obvious. Zenigata was wearing the royal blue tie loose and the top button of his white shirt was undone as was his custom. The coat was open and without the cufflinks, the sleeves were a bit bunched inside the coat sleeves. Zenigata was having a little trouble wearing it, but the suit itself was exquisite.

It was a well-tailored soft grey ensemble (Lupin decided the man in the square was an artist right then and there to get such an accurate cut only going off of Lupin's educated guesses and there was a reason he hadn't had a day off in twenty years) made up of trousers with a tapered leg and a double-breasted jacket with a classic notch lapel and two front buttons. It had a fitted waist and double vents in the back that would give Zenigata freedom of movement while still looking quite elegant.

And if Lupin said so, Zenigata looked good in it. Handsome, even. Yes, rough around the edges, but if that didn't just describe old Pops from the ground up. But with a bit more attention, Lupin thought Zenigata could clean up halfway decent.

"Not bad at all. But if I'm honest, there's room for improvement. That suit is wearing you. C'mere, Pops." Lupin said but it was he who moved in toward the other man. Zenigata stiffened as Lupin stepped forward but he didn't step back. That would have looked weak and that was the last thing he wanted Lupin to see in him. Maybe it was pride or maybe it was something else but he wouldn't let the thief see him that way. 

He longed for the security of his hat and trench coat but he knew they'd only look shabby next to this beautiful suit. Zenigata had been surprised how good he looked in these clothes when he had first looked at himself in the mirror. He looked ten years younger and, though he had never used that word before to describe himself, dashing. The metamorphosis was quite astounding so when Lupin stepped into his space he didn't mind it as much as he thought he would.

Lupin pulled a jewelry box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a pair of silver and blue opal cufflinks. Admittedly they were stolen but in Lupin's defense, they were ones he had stolen some time ago and he just happened to have laying around and Zenigata had only asked if his suit was stolen so technically Lupin was still telling the truth. Lupin shook Zenigata's cuffs out from the sleeve a bit and slipped the cufflinks on with practiced ease. He moved on to Zenigata's collar, flipping it up to close the top button more easily. He smiled at the way the points of the collar brushed the man's ears. Instead of tightening the tie, Lupin decided since he was already there, and a job worth doing was worth doing well, to undo the tie completely and redo it with a complicated Eldredge knot. It created a tapered effect like a fishtail braid and was particularly eye-catching. 

The way Lupin's hands worked was mesmerizing to Zenigata. He knew they could pick a lock and set off smoke bombs but he never knew they could do something so domestic. It felt good to be touched like that. A soft blush touched his cheeks. He took a deep breath and squelched the odd feelings down.

Lupin went to close Zenigata's coat and when he reached in to close the inner button, he felt more than saw Zenigata tense. Lupin realized just how close he was to Zenigata then. He could smell his shaving cream and feel the heat radiating outward from his stomach beneath the white cotton of his shirt. He played it cool and quickly fastened the buttons. Lupin concluded by brushing down Zenigata's sleeves and shoulders with his palms to straighten out any errant wrinkles then stepped back to admire his work. His face quirked into triumph and a sparkling kind of fascination. Shuffling a bit uncomfortably, Zenigata finally looked at Lupin. 

"Well?" He asked as he put his arms out in a display of himself. Lupin went to speak but stopped himself. He splayed his hands out in front of him excitedly.

"Hold on, hold on." He said and scurried off to close the closet door. It had a full-length mirror attached to it. Lupin came back and guided Zenigata over to the mirror with a hand on the middle of the man's back. His other hand closed over Zenigata's eyes. 

"Don't peak." He teased positioning Zenigata in front of the mirror. "Ready?"

"Not particularly." Zenigata grumbled but he still allowed himself to be lead. Lupin's cologne was all around him.

Lupin gave just a little hum of laughter and with the flourish of a magician, he removed his hand from Zenigata's eyes. Zenigata's legs looked slim but strong in the well-fitting wool trousers and the shorter length of the blazer elongated Zenigata's body by revealing more of them. The coat itself, with its two columns of detailed buttons, created a sophisticated shape. The panels of the suit overlapped in order to fit neatly across one another and cut a trim waist on the man and the wider lapels made Zenigata's chest look broader and drew the eye upward.

Lupin naturally followed the lines to Zenigata's face. If Lupin thought Zenigata looked handsome before, he was a goddamn knockout right about now. With the securely closed throat of his dress shirt, the inspector's already prominent jaw and chin looked that much stronger. His broad cheekbones added to the collection of elegant lines that made up the man and Lupin was taken in by the dark eyes ringed in thick lashes that studied the reflection.

Zenigata had worn a suit every day for years but Lupin had never seen him look this slick. His silhouette was all but perfect and Lupin felt it was a crime that he had been hiding it in that economically priced suit and crumpled mackintosh. It seemed Zenigata was realizing it himself too. There was something in how Zenigata was seeing himself that made Lupin's heart pulse.

Zenigata didn't breath for a full ten seconds. He couldn't remember ever looking that good. Maybe in his academy days in his first uniform but he still didn't look like this.

"Wow." he breathed as his hands smoothed down the front of the suit. "I look... Good." He added. His eyes shifted away from himself and fell on Lupin who was looking over his shoulder. The look on the younger man's face made him swallow hard. Turning, Zenigata pulled away a little from Lupin ever so slightly but he mourned the loss of the other man's hand on the small of his back. 

"What's all this about, Lupin? Why are we playing dress up?"

Lupin pulled himself from his musings. He hoped Zenigata hadn't caught him staring. Lupin retreated back to the safety of his more playful side.

"Because if you are going to be my bodyguard, it'll be nothing but the best." He said it in a doting way and Zenigata could swear he saw the edges of Lupin's lips curling.

"Bodyguard? What the hell do you need a bodyguard for?" Zenigata asked, surprised and looking at Lupin like he had lost his mind. "What exactly are you planning?"

"Pops, I am going to get that guy to tell me everything he knows and you'll be right there next to me. You'll be posing as the right-hand man to Jean-Pascal Lupine, international business investor." Lupin motioned to himself somewhat proudly.

"You've got me going undercover!?" Zenigata exclaimed. "I'm a detective, not an undercover cop." His brow was furrowed and his jaw stuck out defiantly. "You've really gone crazy this time."

"Jeez, you'd think you'd at least get a few pointers when you get the badge or something." Lupin said. He sounded pouty and disappointed. He wiggled his little finger in his ear in response to Zenigata's volume. "I'll be honest with you. Rosebay isn't going to talk to you. Scum like him can smell a cop a mile away. And no offense but you've got it coming off you in clouds."

Zenigata placed his hands on his hips and leaned forward. 

"So I'm supposed to let you do all the talking. Huh. Fat chance of that, Lupin." He said with a scowl. Damn, did he need a cigarette.

"Yes, Zenigata, that's exactly what I expect you to do. 'Thank you, Lupin, for doing all the heavy lifting on this job out of the kindness of your heart.'" Lupin countered a little haughtily. He felt a bit like how he did when negotiating the percentage cuts from a job with Fujiko, playing this double-sided game of being firm enough to get what you want but not so stubborn as to bring the whole thing crashing down. The only saving grace here was Zenigata couldn't waylay him with a kiss to get his way as Fujiko knew she could. The thought stuck in Lupin's mind a second like a record skipping on a scratch and the prospect struck him dumb. He gathered himself. "Look. Me, I radiate a certain... magnetism. I know just what to say and when to say it. I promise you I can get him to tell me all his secrets and smile while he does it."

Lupin judged the skepticism in Zenigata eyes and pressed on quickly.

"And you! You as the stoic, watchful _, dependable_ Mr. Jonquil? The man who sees and hears it all. That is a role I know you can play." Lupin explained. "I can't bring my gun with me. A business tycoon carrying a Walther into a party is all kinds of fishy. I need you to watch my back while I seal the deal, Pops. I can't pull this off without you."

Zenigata huffed and gritted his teeth. He was now roped into one of Lupin's little schemes and it was his worst nightmare. But... But with Lupin's help he'd save the women this man was exploiting, He'd close the case and he could get back to chasing Lupin. He sighed and looked in the mirror. He did look the part and Lupin did seem altruistic. He looked back at Lupin. 

"Don't let it go to your head." He turned and walked to the closet to retrieve his underarm holster from the closet. Lupin perhaps chose not to hear the disdain in Zenigata's voice as he perked up considerably.

"Aw, that's the spirit! I knew you'd come through in the end, Pops!" He gushed, turning away himself to search through his bag of supplies. He returned to where Zenigata had removed his jacket and was checking and double checking his weapon before putting it into his holster. Without being asked, Lupin took up the jacket where Zenigata left it and held it open for the inspector to slip his arms into. He had done it with such timing as to have it ready just as Zenigata finished strapping in. It was smooth and looked natural. 

Having put his holster on and his gun properly secured Zenigata turned and started when he saw Lupin holding his jacket. Lupin had something small pressed into one of his hands but Zenigata couldn't see it clearly. He blushed then and grumbled under his breath before turning and allowing the other man to help him on with his coat. He shrugged it on then turned and looked at Lupin. "So stoic bodyguard huh? I think I can handle that."

"There's no doubt in my mind." Lupin agreed jovially. Lupin didn't really know if that was actually true but he didn't want to spook Zenigata. He quickly buttoned the coat again and brushed down the lapels. "And now for the finishing touches."

Lupin lifted the thing in his hand and Zenigata saw it was a sprig of a deep blue flower on a stick pin. Lupin attached the buttonhole deftly yet carefully to Zenigata's lapel and eyed his work with admiration.

"It's a lupine flower." Lupin explained even though Zenigata hadn't asked. "I figure if you're working for Mr. Lupine, he'd want everyone to know you're his man."

"His man, huh?" Zenigata said looking down at the flower. "Am I gonna have to call you sir?"

"Sure will." Lupin chirped. Lupin hummed a sound of comic satisfaction behind his lips. "You'll need to be tough as nails, cool as ice and aloof to everything except my needs. Classic watchdog stuff. Got it?"

"Yeah yeah. I've got it." The inspector grumbled but it was good natured. "You're the boss and I'm the tough guy behind ya. Now how are we gonna get proof of all this?"

Lupin turned to his bag again and pulled out a large something this time.

"While you look out for me, I'm going to get the goods on Rosebay with this little beauty."

Lupin showed Zenigata a porcelain mask, or at least the back side of one. He was pointing out a small wire coming out of a hole above one eye hole. It traveled over the brow and across the temple of the mask's interior where it ran a few more feet to a small battery pack.

"Can't have a masquerade without a mask." Lupin explained affably "And this mask has a camera hidden inside. When Signore Rosebay confides in dear Mr. Lupine he'll also be spilling the beans to the whole ICPO. You bring this footage in, Pops, and they'll give you a raise and a corner office."

Lupin could not contain the mirth this was putting in him. He and Zenigata we're conspiring together. While they had worked together under stressed and off the cuff conditions before, this was downright premeditated and honestly, it made Lupin feel giddy and wicked like a child stealing from the cookie jar after being told not to. Zenigata looked from the mask to Lupin then back to the mask. Slowly, he smiled and his eyes slid back to his companion. 

"That might actually work. I guess I shouldn't double guess one of your plans." He chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Bet you'd like it if they had me at a desk, wouldn't you? You probably felt like a kid in a candy store while I've been on this case the last few months." He added light-heartedly. Zenigata decided if they were going to get through this they might as well do it as friends even for a short time.

"Yeah, sure, it's been a laugh a minute." Lupin replied. He had turned away and was busying himself with threading the wire around behind his ear and tucking the battery pack into the back of his belt. He tied the mask on but then pushed it back on his head for the time being. Once he had that done and slipped his coat on Zenigata could see no sign that the mask was anything but ordinary. Lupin went into his bag one final time and pulled out a second mask.

"I got you one too. No camera, I'm afraid. I only had time to rig one." Lupin turned to Zenigata and his face was that perplexing mix of silliness and pragmatism the inspector would never get used to. "And before you ask and we have the whole conversation again, from here on out assume no gift I ever give you is stolen. I know you wouldn't accept them otherwise."

Once again Zenigata was taken aback by Lupin. He knew this man almost better than he knew himself but tonight felt like he was getting thrown curve ball after curve ball and it was disarming but also reassuring. He had told himself for years that he knew the man. That Lupin the Third was a no good, dirty thief who only cared about himself but then the trail changed. It was no longer just stolen treasures left in his wake. There had been people, mostly women, who had been victimized by others and Lupin used his special skills to steal something far more precious than jewels or rare artifacts. Their freedom. 

For a moment Zenigata had questioned his life's mission. Had wondered if he was truly the one in the right. Robin Hood was also a thief but he was never the villain. The idea that he had been recast as the Sheriff of Nottingham had shaken Zenigata to his core and caused him many sleepless nights. Still, it was his job and, empirically, stealing was against the law. 

Now he stood in a shabby hotel with a beautiful view in Venice, the man he had tried to capture for years standing before him offering gifts and assistance. Zenigata could sense, as detectives often do, something he just couldn't puzzle out from these clues. Something that would wake him up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat when he did realize. And still, Lupin was not asking him to compromise his morals and what bigger gift could the younger man give him than that?

The inspector smiled softly and simply said, "Thank you." It hung heavy in the air for a moment before he followed it with "Monsieur Lupine." 

He gave Lupin a small playful look that he wondered if the man knew he could make. Lupin gripped the mask tighter only because he was afraid he might drop it. It had been unexpected but Lupin was delighted despite himself. It made him feel good to see Pops trying.

"You're very welcome, Monsieur Jonquil." Lupin replied offering the mask. He bowed the tiniest bit as he did so. Zenigata took the mask that was offered to him and silently thanked whatever great deity was out there that this was a party they could hide their faces at. He and Lupin were world-renowned not only for Lupin's thievery but also their cat and mouse game. 

His fingers slid over the smooth dark blue leather of the mask he had been handed. It wasn't just a plain mask, there were embellishments that made the mask an Italian masterpiece. Whirls and designs like ones you would find on Italian furniture or a frame around a piece of art all in the same dark blue leather. Zenigata put the mask on and deftly tied the satin ribbon attached to either side. Once it was in place he looked up and caught his reflection in the mirror. If he had thought he looked handsome before now he looked powerful and sexy. He took a slow deep breath and whispered: "Wow."

Lupin saw Zenigata through the mirror. He gently reached out and turned the man to look at him more closely. His face seemed to stretch, eyebrows going up and mouth falling open the smallest bit in an expression that was genuine, almost childlike awe.

"Wow..." Lupin echoed. A moment later that smile, still childlike if that of a troublesome one, broke out matching with joyful eyes that closed into upside down U's as Lupin spoke again, mirthfully. "You look like The Spirit."

"From the old American manga? Yeah right. Cut it out." Zenigata grumbled in disbelief but didn't pull out of Lupin's grasp. "What's on your mask?"

"I'm just saying. Colombina Barocco is a good style on you. Mine's a little more modern." Lupin mused. He pulled his mask down over his eyes. It was black with a raised white filagree made to look like vines and leaves swirling over the brow and down the cheekbones. On the right side (the same side in which the camera was hidden) was a trio of what looked like porcelain daffodils, painted bright yellow. They stood out, accented against their monochrome backdrop.

"Daffodils?" Zenigata asked. "Not what I was expecting."

"Well, they do look practically identical but these are a little closer to Narcissus Jonquilla. They're jonquils." Lupin replied. His right eye winked through the eye hole at the inspector. "Fair is fair, Pops."

Zenigata was very thankful for his mask as it hid his blush well. "Yeah. Fair is fair." He mumbled. "Anything else or should we get going?"

Lupin weighed his options on what to say next and refused to air on the side of caution. He was feeling impish tonight; he always did just before a big job.

"There is nothing else my magic can do for you, fair princess. Now, to the ball before midnight strikes."

Zenigata's ire had been worth the look on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Just before they stepped out the door, Lupin pressed a roll of cash into Zenigata's hand informing him it was for the water taxi. He also emphatically stated that the very moment they stepped out of those doors they would cease to be Lupin and Inspector Zenigata and instead become Mr. Lupine and Mr. Jonquil. Zenigata said he understood and the two of them stood in the lobby. Lupin rolled his eyes after a moment and gave an exasperated sigh.

"The door?" He prompted. Zenigata looked at Lupin in confusion a moment longer before understanding dawned and he somewhat begrudgingly held the front door open for Lupin to step out onto the street.

"It's going to be a long night..." Lupin sighed as he passed through.

Lupin walked briskly not looking back to see if Zenigata was following. They rounded the corner a few blocks away from the hotel just as the water taxi pulled up. Lupin had phoned ahead and his impeccable timing was paying off now. It was an expensive taxi and Lupin stepped in silently, taking a seat in the private back compartment. When the inspector moved to take a seat of his own, Lupin cleared his throat and fixed him with a look. It was a wordless command. Zenigata took the hint and remained standing, holding the rail and trying not to glare bullets at the thief.

They passed the church of Madonna dell’Orto and entered the Cannaregio neighborhood on the Grand Canal. Lupin could hear people carrying on at nearby street parties and festivals. The locals were celebrating Ferragosto in rowdy fashion, gearing up for the fireworks that would paint the sky as the night went on. As much as he liked a swanky party, Lupin would much rather be out there with the people, where the wine may have been cheap but plentiful and supplied by people who knew how to have a good time.

Soon the water taxi stopped at the wrought-iron gate of a midsize palazzo. It was average from the outside, all stucco walls and black shutters, but one could see two separate terraces on different elevations of the multi-leveled roof. Indistinct forms milled about up there and Lupin was sure there were to be many more inside. As they docked Zenigata climbed out of the boat and started to walk away but stopped, turned and offered his hand to Lupin.

"Monsieur Lupine," he said calmly. Lupin was torn between annoyance at Zenigata's inability to remember what he was supposed to be doing and admiration for his dedication when he did. Lupin didn't acknowledge the man but did take his hand only long enough to traverse the step between water taxi and dock. Lupin noted that despite the warm summer night and constricting attire, Zenigata's hand was cold. Nerves, Lupin deduced. Zenigata was walking into enemy territory and didn't even have the aid of his usual bluster to help him this time. Zenigata was more accustomed to police raids and armies of officers, not all this cloak and dagger stuff. Lupin wondered if it was Zenigata who would be watching out for him tonight or if it would be he who would have to keep an eye out.

As Lupin walked ahead Zenigata went and paid the driver. He made sure that other party guests saw him easily pass over the large wad of bills. At a quick glance, he thought it must be more than he made in a few months. All for one boat ride. While he cringed internally at handing over so much money, he made sure it didn't show on his face. The pair approached the Palazzo, Zenigata a step behind.

"You tell me when you see him, alright?" Lupin murmured, not looking at the man.

"Alright. Alright. I'm looking, ok?" he grumbled to his companion. It wasn't something a loyal bodyguard would say but he was getting annoyed at being pushed around already. Lupin gave his purloined invitation to the doorman (a bit of a thug, Lupin could tell. He had a feeling most of the security detail tonight would be of that ilk.) and they entered. Zenigata quickly caught up to Lupin and didn't look at either guard as they walked in.

The building's humble exterior did not reflect it's lavish insides. Lupin and Zenigata found themselves on the vast ground floor of a palatial home. The walls were lined with incredibly detailed plasterwork and frescoes of the gods and goddesses of antiquity, watching over the party goers with placid expressions, their bodies draped in swaths of cloth that did nothing to hide their exquisite physiques. The massive front room led to a beautiful marble staircase that took a gentle turn to curve to the left and right around on its way to the second floor. To the left, a pair of beautiful glass doors were opened to a gorgeous ballroom lined with antique mirrors and dominated by an imposing Murano glass chandelier hanging high above. To the right, were smaller open doorways leading to an elegant sitting room. People in posh dress, each wearing extravagant masks were mingling and laughing. The place was absolutely packed. The sounds of a string ensemble floated through the air.

"Well well..." Lupin said, impressed despite himself and whistled low. He waited a beat, eyes scanning the front room they were in. "You see him?"

Zenigata tried not to stare at the opulence and instead searched for their host. Once he finally had a chance to scan the room, their target was easier to find than he thought. Rosebay was the only man in the room with a mask on a stick. He walked the room with a self-imposed air. He was king of his castle.

Dutara Rosebay was not a distinguished looking man. In fact, he was quite forgettable. Hair that was once dark brown was shot through with grey and parted to one side. He had a larger nose that was slightly crooked and a rounded face with a weak chin. The man was of average height, caucasian and indistinguishable from any businessman of middling age. This smuggler and exploiter of women looked very much like any man you'd see in a morning commute to work.

Zenigata leaned in and softly said: "There he is at ten o'clock."

Lupin's eyes shifted over to the man. He let out a quiet laugh, a single low 'heh' as if his smile had its own automatic soundtrack, and he squared his shoulders to combat his usual relaxed posture.

"Showtime." He intoned. He strode through the party deftly moving between the guests with a practiced ease that left not a ruffle of a dress disturbed. He made his way over to Rosebay.

"Signoire Rosebay? Jean-Pascal Lupine, Tussilage investment corporation. I am so pleased to be meeting you in person." He said professionally. He pronounced his words with an authentic French accent and his pseudonym and the name of his company (from where he had pulled it, Zenigata did not know) tinkled like bells off his tongue. Lupin offered his hand which Rosebay took. The handshake was a little weaker than Lupin was used to giving. He wanted to make Rosebay believe he was the one in control.

Zenigata watched the exchange with a passive expression. He looked at the two people beside Rosebay. One was an intimidating form of a man. He wore a plain black mask and a drab suit. He recognized the ginger goatee. With ICPO breathing down Rosebay's neck and him using every tactic and excuse to turn them away, it was frustrating kismet that the security detail head was Rosebay's right-hand man tonight. Zenigata was grateful for his mask.

Zenigata puffed up a bit and gave a mild nod to the man. An acknowledgment that they were of the same profession. There was a message there too. _Hurt my boss and I'll end yours_. The man nodded back with the same message. The detective couldn't help the childish thought that his mask and suit were better and that Lupin had better taste than this bastard.

The other person with Rosebay was a girl. She was petite with strawberry blond hair that curled gently as it fell over her shoulders. Her mask was that of a doe, delicate and lovely with soft brown fur and little speckles of white over the brow and along the cheekbones. She wore what looked like an expensive cocktail dress. It shimmered golden on her body. Cut in a halter style, her entire back was exposed and the front barely covered her small breasts. The neckline of the dress circled the young woman's neck like a collar. It was her eyes that drew Zenigata in though.

They were hopeless. Her face was tilted downwards and her eyes were unfocused as if none of this mattered. As though none of the opulence and beauty around her was real. He knew then that this girl wasn't a person to this bastard. She was an ornament. Like a Rolex watch or an Armani suit. She was no longer a human, just an accessory. It made Zenigata's blood boil. It didn't help when Rosebay slid his hand from Lupin's and wrapped it around the girl's tiny waist. She flinched ever so slightly as if something slimy had touched her before forcing herself to relax. That's when Zenigata got a good look at Rosebay's mask. It was a stag. Yet this one was dark and imposing. A nightmare of a creature. The inspector went over police codes in his head until he felt calm again and not as though he was going to punch this disgusting son of a bitch.

"Welcome to the party, Signoire Lupine. I'm afraid I haven't heard of your company." Rosebay said somewhat loftily. He wasn't good at hiding what he was thinking. Zenigata could see the wheels moving in his head. "Have you been in Italy long?"

Lupin was smiling in a way that said butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He ignored the subtle jab that Rosebay was very obviously trying to put through to him and pressed on.

"I've actually spent the last year or so in San Marino as a matter of fact. I came for Rebecca Rossellini's wedding and well, I liked it so much I decided then and there to see what your country had to offer." Lupin wondered if Zenigata was reacting to his half lies. He hoped he was staying in character but the more chaotic part of Lupin liked the idea of his past collection of capers being an inside joke between them. Lupin's eyes fell onto the doe beside Rosebay coldly.

"Your wife?" He asked. It was courteous but uninterested, a social obligation of introduction that had to be addressed. Rosebay listened to Lupin with a passive expression on his face. He was listening out of courtesy but not true interest that was until Lupin mentioned the woman at his side. His arm tightened around her and he smiled at Lupin in a cocky manner.

"Sadly, no. My wife is a devout woman and prefers to stay at home with our daughters. This lovely young thing is..." he paused as he turned to look at the girl and his smile turned into a lear. "My companion for the evening." he turned back to the masquerading thief. "I've always believed in mixing business with pleasure. Wouldn't you agree?"

Zenigata stiffened ever so slightly when Lupin mentioned San Marino but kept his cool. His eyes kept falling on the girl. How he wanted to save her but he knew if he tried anything it would blow their cover. From the corner of his vision, Zenigata saw a woman looking his way. He turned his head slightly to look at her. She had long black hair and was young but not like the girl in the mask. She wore a black and white server's tux and held a silver tray in her hand so he assumed she was one of the wait staff. When she saw that Zenigata's attention had turned to her a small smile touched her red lips and she winked at him before going about her business.

Zenigata blushed. Had she just flirted with him? That was definitely new. His eyes scanned the other guests and he was surprised that there were others, men and women, who were looking at him with veiled interest. Before his stoic mask could crack Zenigata turned back to the conversation before him.

Lupin was happy to see this scum bag was dropping pompous hints to the crimes he felt no one could pin on him. Lupin could feel the air of the party was filled with people who either knew of Rosebay's dirty dealings or were so invested in pleasing him that they wouldn't care if they did find out. This whole party was business as well as pleasure.

"I'm glad to hear we are cut from the same cloth." Lupin said smoothly. "I'm disappointed to hear you don't recognize Tussilage. I know we've had some preliminary contact with your company but nothing I'm sure that has traveled to your personal echelon. So I'll take it as an opportunity to tell you in person how much I admire your work."

Lupin looked meaningfully at Rosebay.

"All your work." He added. A member of the wait staff walked by with a silver tray laden with glasses of champagne. Lupin reached out and took one as they passed. He didn't break eye contact. The smile on Rosebay's face grew.

"It's always nice to meet an admirer." He said as he soaked up the praise. "I suppose you mean our international shipping practices. I have quite the knack at moving products across borders. You said you work for an investment company, correct?"

Lupin's extremities began to tingle. The hook was baited and Rosebay may not have been biting yet but he definitely saw the line.

"I did. We specialize in large scale business investment. Benefactor opportunities and business growth. In short, Signoire Rosebay, my business is your business. I've been studying your work with the local and regional vineyards in particular and I'm very envious of your efficiency. How you move the products without bruising any of that particularly fragile produce. I'm very interested in talking at length about expanding your business to the opposite coast and into France." Lupin didn't lay too much meaning into his tone. Less was more in these situations. He went to drink from his champagne flute as if the offer had been nothing more than an airy passing thought. Zenigata saw the interest in Rosebay's eyes but kept his cool. The dark-haired waitress walked by again a little closer to them. She made sure to catch his eye again. With a condescending sigh, Rosebay started to pull back. He smirked.

"And who has been telling you I'm looking to expand? While our product does relatively well on the short trips, longer trips may cause higher perishability in the product."

They were speaking the same language now. Lupin was ready. His smile was dark but alluring as he studied his glass.

"This is a very good vintage, I must say. I should know. I grew up in Champagne. Epernay." He mused. He took another shallow sip, savoring the flavor. "French grapes are terribly delicate; incredibly fragile. They're also often very highly sought after. I'm sure someone with your obvious breeding can understand that. What I wouldn't give to understand how to handle them the way your company does. It could be a whole new region for both of us to benefit from. Very profitable. I would apologize for talking shop at such a lavish event but like you said. Mix business with pleasure at every opportunity."

Lupin turned and began to walk away. He motioned for Zenigata to follow.

"Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. _Boun Ferragosto_ , Signoire Rosebay." He said with collected politeness. Zenigata almost yelled. What was Lupin thinking? He was walking away from the target. He followed anyhow, cursing Lupin internally. Lupin counted back from five in his head.

"Wait." Rosebay's voice said behind them. Lupin stopped but didn't turn at first. "Perhaps with proper funding we could find a way to transport our product further." He added. The thief and his bodyguard turned slowly as the target took the bait. Lupin's face was an expression of both muted satisfaction and something more impenetrable beneath.

"What a splendid notion." He said agreeably. Lupin stepped back over to Rosebay, this time taking only one step into what might be considered the man's personal space. "It's quite loud out here. You wouldn't have any place more private we can go? Somewhere we wouldn't have to raise our voices?"

"I believe that is an excellent idea, Signoire Lupine. There is a sitting room just this way." Rosebay put his mask up and smirked as he steered himself and the young woman in the doe mask towards an open door. Lupin followed and Zenigata trailed behind. The waitress who had been slowly coming closer to Zenigata stopped him in his path.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked as she batted her eyes up at him. The detective's first instinct was to decline but then remembered the part he was playing.

"Sir. Do you want another drink?" He asked Lupin. Lupin looked over his shoulder at Zenigata. His eyes then fell upon the woman. He considered it. Then he considered her. He recognized the look of an interested party and it irked him though he didn't want to say why. Maybe he was mildly annoyed it wasn't him who wasn't the one being longed for or more accurately, maybe it was because he knew who her big eyes were stuck on. Lupin's turn as fairy godfather had worked too well. He drained his champagne flute and placed it on the girl's tray.

"Sidecar. Can you manage that? Don't keep me waiting." He said it plain and flat. He told himself it was because he knew Rosebay was in earshot. He looked at Zenigata only a moment before turning back on his them both. "Jonquil. Come."

That surprised Zenigata. Was this cold character part of the con? He'd never seen Lupin like this. He nodded his thanks to the girl and followed quickly after the other man.

The room was still as opulent as the rest of the house. The type of room the master of the house would take brandy in after dinner. There were brown leather chairs and a love seat. Dark wood lined the lower half of the room with another fresco, this one of a hunting scene, ringing the room above it. On the right had wall was a beautiful fireplace. It was empty as it was August and warm but Zenigata could imagine how cozy this room would feel with a big roaring fire.

Rosebay sat in one large leather chair and motioned for Lupin to sit across from him. His guard stood behind him on his left and the girl in the doe mask stiff next to him on his right. Once Lupin sat, Zenigata took up his place on his right-hand side, standing in an intimidating way beside his fake boss. The doors to the room were left open. More proof that this man felt he was untouchable. It made Zenigata want to grind his teeth.

Lupin took note of his place in the room. A wall behind him and the doors they had entered behind Rosebay. Lupin calculated that the pros were he could keep an eye on the door and with his back to the inner wall, no one could sneak up on them. The cons were that the only exit to the room was past Rosebay and his heavy. Lupin considered it a wash. It wasn't like he had any other choice in the matter.

"I fear I've been terribly rude to you, Signoire Lupine. I see you have brought your associate with you, I personally never go anywhere without mine." He chuckled like it was some great joke. "But you have no companion for the evening. I'd be more than happy to offer you this one." His hand slid up the back of the woman's thigh and she flinched. "To be brutally honest I chose her for her looks. I was planning on handing her off later in the night as I prefer a companion with more fight. This one has been made very docile. I'm afraid her shipment got caught in customs and the long experience may have broken her a little. I lost a lot of product that time. I assure you she can still be used though. She's pliable and makes the sweetest sounds." he said as he looked at Lupin with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "I can have her demonstrate her skills for you now if you wish. We take training very seriously."

Lupin wanted to slug this guy. He was offering this clearly terrified girl to Lupin like some kind of cheap party favor. Lupin had always got along with and had a soft spot for women. He was a natural protector of women. It was just the nature of a gentleman and the way Rosebay flaunted his abuse and misogyny was enough to make his blood boil. Still, he tamped it down and focused on sticking to the shrewd character he had established. Lupin gave a thin sneer as if he was hiding it behind propriety.

"While the offer itself is more than generous, at the risk of seeming ungracious, I have to say I'm afraid it would be wasted upon me." He said dully. He looked at the doe girl and his lips turned down in disgust. He returned his attention to Rosebay a moment later as if the girl was never in the room to begin with. Rosebay blinked in surprise. His hand left the girl and she relaxed slightly.

"If this doesn't suit your tastes I am sure we have something that you'd find pleasing. Simply name it and I can procure it." The smile returned as Rosebay crossed his legs in a cocky way and leaned back in the chair, relaxed. "Brunette. Redhead. Blonde. I think we have one with pink hair right now." The last part was said like it was a true novelty and he laughed. "Tall, short. Waifish, thick. " He snickered at the last one like it was a joke only the most intelligent of guests would understand. "If it's use that bothers you I do have virgins. Those do tend to be young though. Some don't prefer that."

Lupin smiled as he were the only one in the room in on the joke. That smile turned into a laugh that Zenigata had never heard before. It was not Lupin's usual laugh, puckish and without airs. Although having the quality of actual amusement, this sounded mean. Lupin sighed, putting a hand across his forehead.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry but there's been a misunderstanding. I'll be more candid. If I'm honest, I despise women. I've never met a woman that wasn't either a simpering wretch or as conniving as a snake. There's a reason they are called the weaker sex. Woman's natural state is subservient to Man. It's been that way since Adam and Eve. No, Signoire Rosebay, I don't bother with women unless it's business and then only if I must." He pulled out a chrome cigarette case from his inner coat pocket and clicked it open. He pulled out a cigarette and studied it a moment, a second smaller laugh dribbling from between his lips as if he was not fully over the joke of it all.

To Zenigata this was the performance of a lifetime. As far as he knew Lupin was the champion of all women, even to the point of making mistakes. He had seen the younger man be manipulated by Fujiko Mine more times than he could count. The situation with Rebecca Rossellini had confounded him also. Zenigata had been sure it was just part of some scheme the whole time.

"I'm surprised that someone who eschews carnal pleasure would want to be involved in my business." The man sitting across from Lupin said. His eyes moved over the other man as if he was an unfathomable oddity in a museum. "Perhaps there is a wife for appearance sake. My wife goes to church daily and that seems to fool the media that I'm a devout Catholic. Actually I could care less about the church unless it promotes my needs. An ugly woman is a wonderful distraction when you deal in beautiful ones."

"My father always told me to get into a business where you have no taste for the merchandise. That way you don't start sampling your own product. And no, there is no wife." Lupin countered. He held his cigarette out, dangling between two fingers, elbow resting on the low chair's armrest. It was an expectant motion but not terribly insistent. As if it had been done many times a day for many years.

It took Zenigata a moment before he realized he was being expected to light Lupin's cigarette. His first instinct was to scramble to get the job done but remembered he wasn't himself right now. He was the stoic bodyguard, Mr. Jonquil. When he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket for his lighter he made sure to make sure it was nonchalant. Just something he did every day even though he never would have thought he'd be lighting Arsene Lupin's cigarettes at a known sex trafficker's party. He bent slightly as he lit the cigarette.

Rosebay eyed the masked man in front of him. The look in his eyes was skeptical but still interested. "Very good advice, I suppose. It's a shame I can't follow it myself."

"Not everyone can." Lupin conceded. He looked out the corner of his eye at Zenigata. Somehow the tiny flame of the lighter seemed to make Lupin's dark eyes burn. He drew in on the smoke and exhaled a soft cloud into the room. "I don't know how you do things in Italy but in France we are very forthright about our proclivities. So I'll say again, there is... no wife."

Lupin hummed a single note of amusement as if he were darkly proud of himself. The look in Lupin's eyes made Zenigata's heart thump and his breath caught in his chest. He capped the lighter and straightened up before tucking it back inside his coat. He couldn't figure out what Lupin was getting at.

"Oh!" Rosebay said softly as it all came together. He laughed softly and leaned back in his chair in a relaxed fashion. Clearly, he didn't think Lupin was any type of a threat. "You're a homosexual. My apologies but I didn't know, Signoire Lupine. You're not nearly as effeminate as I associate your ilk with. If it suits your needs I suppose it wouldn't be bad to expand our clientele. I could procure new product that meets your interests. Though, to be candid, I don't like the idea of encouraging that kind of lifestyle but for the right price, I believe I could put aside my moral objections."

This guy was getting worse and worse by the minute. Lupin kept his face in check and focused on looking unfazed by the man's opinion.

"And here you said you weren't a church-going man." He joked lightly. "Rest assured I have no intention of altering your services. This isn't for me. I'm only interested in our mutual benefits. Expanding your movement across the French border would be invaluable to you and a wonderful new avenue for me. There's good money to be made, it provides easy and cheap entertainment for many of my visiting business partners, and why not?" He took another drag on his cigarette and exhaled decadently. "It's a man's world, after all."

The waitress from before entered the room. She approached Lupin and bent at the waist to present his drink on its silver tray. Lupin snatched it from her and sneered.

"Took you long enough." He spat.

"I'm very sorry si-" she began.

"If you can't be useful, at least be quiet." He said dismissively.

"Sir." Zenigata said. He was still reeling over the fact that Lupin was pretending to be gay but he played his role. He also felt sorry for the waitress who wasn't involved in their facade. It was better to remove the spotlight from her. With deft fingers, he plucked the glass from Lupin's fingers as if this was a regular occurrence for them. He first inspected the contents of the glass, then smelled it and finally took a sip. The bourbon burned the back of his throat but with all the crazy things that had happened he welcomed it. He turned the glass so that the part where his lips had touched was facing away from Lupin and handed it back to his partner. "It's clean, sir."

He offered the waitress a small smile before taking up his stoic stance. The girl blushed and hurried out of the room.

Lupin saw an opportunity arising. It would be remiss of him to say that Zenigata's new look didn't have a similar effect on him as it did on that little server and again he wondered if his jealousy from earlier hadn't been caused by Zenigata receiving her attention but instead by he, Lupin, not being the one to give it to him. Rosebay was all but eating out of Lupin's hand. He had posed an interest in Rosebay's work, convinced him had money and established he was no threat to his 'merchandise' or, probably more important to a man like Rosebay, his masculinity. While there was no trust per se among people like them, Lupin would say he was as close to gaining it as he could be. He decided to stretch things out and have a bit of fun.

"See? This is just what I was saying. That dizzy cow couldn't bring a single drink without making me wait. Meanwhile, without fail, Mr. Jonquil is there to protect me from her kind." Lupin very deliberately took a sip from his glass, turning it back and placing his lips over the place Zenigata had drunk from. He looked into Zenigata's eyes as he put the drink down beside him. "I go nowhere without him. He is my most loyal watchdog."

Zenigata tilted his head slightly to look at Lupin. He hoped it was the look of a lieutenant checking in with his commander but he squinted at Lupin questioningly. Rosebay leaned forward, intrigued.

"Men of our stature often need our right-hand men. I try not to dote on mine too much."

Lupin looked back at Rosebay with an unembarrassed indulgence.

"I'm afraid I can't help it. He is just about my only weakness. His devotion is humbling." He purred. He casually reached over and gently took Zenigata's hand, rubbing his thumb over the knuckle of the man's index finger.

It took Zenigata a moment to register what Lupin was saying. When he realized Lupin was implying that they were in a romantic relationship the inspector didn't breath for a moment. Why was Lupin saying this? Why him? They were still holding hands and Rosebay was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. It had never occurred to Zenigata to pull his hand away. He braced himself like he was about to take a punch and gave Lupin's hand a gentle squeeze. His eyes softened as he looked at the other man and he registered how soft the hand in his was. How it felt... good.

"Well, that is one way to inspire loyalty in your men." Rosebay sniggered. Lupin actually chuckled back, magnanimously as if this was not a jab at his expense but a pleasant observation.

"It's unorthodox, I know, but when he came to me with his confession all those years ago it made my heart melt. To think the man who guarded my life with his very own also wanted to protect my heart." Lupin hoped he sounded touched and proud and also the tiniest bit flustered by it all. Inside he wanted to laugh out loud. He considered leaving it at that but when Zenigata returned the touch with that gentle pressure Lupin stayed his hand.

Lupin knew he should coax out the proof of how Rosebay smuggled girls across the border and be done with it. He knew he was playing; taking a risk Jigen would have called him out for. But Lupin was nothing if not a thrill seeker. He was aware the gods of chaos owned his soul and if this horrible man wanted to look down his nose at "Mr. Lupine", Lupin would make sure it was all there to see. He would get Rosebay to talk but he would do it at his pace.

Lupin admitted he was a little personally offended as well. Lupin loved women but it was not unheard of for the right kind of man to catch Lupin's eye and when Zenigata had opened that bathroom door earlier that evening, he had done just that. Strangely the months sans Zenigata quickly grew stale and had given Lupin plenty of time to think about why. Lupin was positive he'd get what he'd came for tonight (Lupin always stole what he said he would and a confession was no different) but for just a moment Lupin could only focus on the calloused touch of Zenigata's hand and goddamn it, if it didn't feel good.

Lupin took a drag off the cigarette and held his breath as he put the cigarette down in the nearby ashtray. He blew smoke and on the tail end of the exhalation brought Zenigata's knuckles to his lips. The dying jet of smoke hit Zenigata's skin and curled upward in a thin tendril of mist as Lupin kissed tenderly. Zenigata's hand now, Lupin noted, was very warm.

"He seems cold but he's a surprisingly tender lover." He intoned smoothly. He held Zenigata's hand where it was by his face and his lips lightly brushed the top of Zenigata's hand with every other word.

If Lupin kept this up Zenigata was going to collapse. His knees felt weak and his heart was hammering in his chest. He liked the way Lupin's lips felt against his knuckles. How his breath on his skin was warm and his voice soft and husky. Lost in the moment, the inspector felt his manhood harden slightly but it wasn't something he'd ever admit. Nor would he admit that he had thought he had grown out of his feelings for men.

After a moment he remembered where they were. Zenigata cleared his throat and said: "Sir."

Lupin looked away, up and to the left in a long-suffering way. It was not an eye roll but Rosebay saw it and recognized it. A signal of good-natured loftiness from one master to another in regards to their shy toys.

"Please, Henri. He's a grown man. With his line of work, I'm sure he's heard it all. I am just as proud of showing off what is mine as he is, is all. And why shouldn't I be? Who better to protect my life than the one I give it to willingly?" Lupin's eyes flicked up and, through the dying haze of blue-grey smoke, looked out from behind the mask into Zenigata's eyes. "Isn't that right?"

Lupin asked it in a way that said he and Zenigata had had this discussion many times before and the answer was well worn and cared for. An emotional heirloom between the two of them. The way Lupin said all this almost felt real but Zenigata knew it was part of the act. It was a surprise how much that actually hurt. Taking up his role again, Zenigata smiled in a humble way.

"You're more than right Jean. Though I believe there is business that needs to be finished." He was calm and his voice was warm but grounded. Zenigata decided that Henri Jonquil was everything he was not. It was best to think that because Henri knew Jean-Pascal intimately in a way he would never know Lupin. That bothered him for some reason but he pushed it aside.

Lupin felt his face grow warm at the sound of Zenigata's voice. He had never heard that tone come out of Zenigata before. It was often a shout or a distrustful growl but never this kind inviting rumble that made Lupin want to purr like a kitten. Lupin imagined how the vibrations might ring through Zenigata's chest and into the palm of Lupin's hand when he spoke in that voice. And when did Pops get that ten-kilowatt smile?

It was all a lot to take in. Lupin had often joked that if the Interpol job never worked out, Zenigata would make one hell of a thief. It was a jab that usually sent Zenigata through the roof when timed correctly in the midst of the chase but the inspector had pulled it out of the bag with this one and if his ability to knuckle down and deliver, staying calm and in character, was any indication perhaps that joke had a grain of truth in it. Koichi Zenigata, gentleman thief? That was a thought. It made Lupin's face go hotter under the mask. Lupin used the feelings to his advantage. He made a charmingly flustered face and gave Zenigata's hand one last squeeze before letting go.

"Yes. Yes, you're absolutely right. What can I say? You distract me." Lupin said as if trying to sober himself (which he partially was) and then waved Zenigata away before returning his attention to Rosebay. "I'm very sorry but we Frenchmen can be very...amorous, you know."

It was a perfect tell. As far as Rosebay knew, Mr. Lupine was a rich, flighty over emotional frog. Easy to manipulate and too stupid to know it was happening. Someone you could tell absolutely anything to with no fear of them knowing how to use it against you.

Zenigata had seen the surprise on Lupin's face for just a moment but it emboldened him. As his hand was released he took the time to let his fingers gently caress the shell of Lupin's ear before pulling away. He puffed up at his little achievement but tried to remember to stay stoic.

That was a dirty trick, Lupin decided. That feather-light touch on his ear. Lupin hoped his hair wasn't standing on end. Lupin stalwartly did not look at Zenigata as he crossed behind his chair and moved to stand at the left side of the room against the wall.

"Yes. I've heard that about the French. It's why I like your idea of going over the border with my girls. How do we move forward, if you don't mind me asking?" Clearly, Rosebay was ready to move on as the display had offended his well-chosen sensibilities. He regarded the girl beside him. "Get me a glass of wine. I need to cleanse my palette. Red. My personal vintage." he swatted the doe girl on the rear and she quickly scurried to the door and waved over a server.

"Well, on my end I will be more than happy to supply you with the means to expand. Funding for vehicles and labor. Assistance with the local authorities. Whatever is in my power to give you. And in return, I ask for a percentage of your profits, access to women as needed for my own functions and first option for investment if you decide to expand into Switzerland, Austria, so on, so forth. And I do have a feeling that once you start moving Italian girls to France as well as Slovenia, you'll soon see demand at all your borders and further into Europe. Trust me, I have a knack for picking winners." Lupin explained. "That being said, I have the same question for you. How do you move forward once you've received my benefaction? Forgive me, but I'm sometimes very slow with these things." He added in a conversational way. It was the good-humored self-depreciation one used with friends. Rosebay crossed his legs nonchalantly. He sighed as if the logistics were oh so exhausting to figure out.

The doe meekly stepped back into the room, her errand done, and returned to take her place beside Rosebay. She looked shaken and gaunt. Lupin could tell she knew what kind of people populated this room; Ones like her master and it was scaring her. Lupin's heart went out to her.

"Well for starters, we'd have to pick a product. Produce is popular. We make false sides on the truck and hide the girls inside then fill the truck with produce. Two birds with one stone." he smiled as if he had just explained a magic trick. "Or I personally prefer the wine trick. The casks are actually compartments for the girls with false fronts filled with wine. That way if they're checked all they find is the wine. It's more cramped but the comfort of the product is none of our concern. It helps with the particularly spirited ones. After a long drive they're far more pliant. Isn't that true, my deer?" he laughed at his own joke as he patted the girl on her rear end. Tears clung in her eyes.

"With your investments we could hire more drivers, make larger trucks. Since we'd be traveling further we'd have to have some form of climate control. We had a bad situation where a truck broke down on a hot summer day. We lost our entire shipment. Thirty of them. Very expensive and mess to clean up. Of course we wouldn't make it too comfortable. As I've stated it can be a very good attitude adjustment."

The thought of those poor women folded and cramped into possibly less than two feet of space, gagged or possibly drugged, their air supply thick with the cloying scent of alcohol made Lupin livid. No person should be treated like that. It hurt to smile through. He hid his disgust by taking a large gulp of his drink.

"That is ingenious. I never would have thought. And you do that with every shipment of these women?" He asked feigning amazement and curiosity.

"Mostly." Rosebay said, uncrossing his legs and sitting up a bit more. "If our client wants to purchase just one of our girls we can have counterfeit documents made up so they can take their purchase with them or, and this is the more popular option, we can have them shipped. You'd be surprised how little people look at animal shipping crates if you label the animal inside as vicious."

Zenigata was trying not to shake. This was why he never worked undercover. He would forget himself and it was maddening that he couldn't just arrest this man.

"You have outdone yourself, I must say. I am so impressed! You've sold me." Lupin smiled. He had it. Rosebay had just dug his own grave and Lupin had his confession on video. He felt untouchable. Lupin decided while he would find an opportunity to politely leave the party (early meeting, lots of work to be done) he first would happily drink this monster's booze and enjoy his hospitality. Adding insult to injury was the least Rosebay deserved.

Zenigata smirked. If Lupin ever wanted to give up a life of crime he'd make a great detective. He felt proud that he was doing this with Lupin. The long haired waitress came back with a glass of wine on a tray. She placed it next to where Rosebay was sitting. She smiled at Zenigata then came around to stand by him.

"Hi." she said shyly. "Thank you for earlier."

Rosebay stood and lifted his glass. "A toast to our arrangement."

"No problem ma'am." Zenigata said giving her a little smile.

Lupin stood himself, glass in hand and stretched out his arm to meet Rosebay's own with a deep ringing clink.

"And to mixing business with pleasure. _Salut_..."

The atmosphere in the room became more relaxed. Lupin settled back into his chair and sipped his drink comfortably. Lupin wondered how much he could get away with before leaving with Zenigata and the camera. When they shook hands at the end of the evening, Lupin would definitely steal Rosebay's Rolex. Just for fun. Maybe he could even snatch his gold tie tack while he was at it.

Looking over his glass as he drank, Lupin noticed the waitress hadn't left the room and instead was standing beside Zenigata. She was saying something but it was low, the practiced tone of staff whose job it was to do their work but otherwise go unnoticed. Lupin tried to ignore her but the way she was eyeing Zenigata stuck with him. He forced himself to pull his focus back to Rosebay.

"I'm am so excited to be working with you, Signoire Rosebay. I'll have my lawyer on this first thing in the morning. The paperwork will be on your desk before the day is out. I'll be happy to meet you to sign it before the end of the week then perhaps we can have dinner to celebrate." He said, playing his part to sound absolutely delighted.

"Bet you're really cute under that mask." the waitress said leaning into Zenigata's personal space. She batted her eyes up at him. He leaned back away from her and blinked.

"Oh! Uhm! Thank you ma'am" he said nervously.

"Yes, that's an excellent idea. Perhaps a combination of Italian and French cuisine." Rosebay settled back into his seat and sipped his wine.

Victory made Lupin feel heady and quixotic and he was basking in it now. The string ensemble played on in the ballroom across the way and echoed through the foyer into their sitting room. Once Lupin excused himself from Rosebay's scrutiny he'd like to see that ballroom again. He had a feeling Zenigata couldn't waltz but that wasn't going to stop Lupin from taking the man for a spin on the dancefloor maybe. Now that he had established their deep cover as lovers, lupin selfishly wanted to milk it for all it was worth. Zenigata would softly protest and look at him aghast but once Lupin slid an arm around that trim waist, the inspector wouldn't dare break cover. And who knows? Zenigata was better at rolling with the punches than he gave himself credit, if his earlier performance was any indication. Maybe he would melt into Lupin's embrace and let himself be whisked around the ballroom. And maybe, just maybe, with the twinkling lights of the chandelier in the inspector's eyes, Lupin could take a second crack at that kiss and it wouldn't be Zenigata's hand this time.

"Please, I have always wanted to experience Venice, queen of the Adriatic, with an authentic Italian. Leave the French cuisine for when you come visit. I must repay your hospitality tonight, inviting me into your lovely home..." Lupin trailed off a moment, his eyes wandering back to Zenigata and the server. Was Pops smiling? He felt a stab of something petty that he quickly banished to the back of his mind. "And surely you'll want to scout out possible routes for your new east coast itinerary. I was thinking perhaps somewhere in Provence Alpes would make a perfect termination point and there are plenty of wineries there I can purchase that will make fine distribution centers for your," Lupin chuckled and sipped his sidecar "vintages."

"I was thinking Nice would be a perfect rendezvous point. Plenty of money on the Riviera along with ports and roads for further export. Yes, I believe that will do quite nicely." The smuggler said as he stood and straightened his jacket, getting ready to go back to his party. He picked up his mask off the table he had been sitting beside.

On the other side of the room, the waitress was unyielding. She had now pushed up on her tiptoes and was reaching for the strings on Zenigata's mask.

"Come on. I just wanna little peek at your face." She said quietly. It was clear to the cop that it wasn't safe to have his face seen here. Zenigata gently took the girl by her shoulders to get her to back off.

"I can't do that ma'am. I'm sorry." He grumbled annoyed. Lupin brow knit together beneath his mask. What did that flirty little thing think she was doing? He almost forgot to reply but caught himself.

"Hmm? Nice, ah yes, Nice is beautiful country. So much to see. The opera, Castle Hill. I still have fond memories of playing in the botanical gardens as a child. You're sure to love it." Lupin attested agreeably though he didn't take his eyes off of Zenigata and the woman.

"Lady. Back off..." Zenigata growled as he tried to pull away from the woman who finally grabbed one of the satin ribbons. Rosebay paused with his drink part way to his lips.

"As a child? In Nice? I thought you said you were from Champagne?"

Lupin's head snapped back to Rosebay and he cursed himself. This is what he got for improvising off the cuff like that. He could hear a voice in his mind scolding him for being a showboat and it sounded like Jigen. Lupin scrambled to cover up.

"Oh yes? Yes, I did! Epernay! But my father had a summer home in Nice, you see. Didn't I mention that?"

"Got it!" The waitress said triumphantly as the pulled the string and the mask slipped away from Zenigata's face. She held the mask by the ribbon as she looked up at the detective. "Oh! I was right. You are handsome." she flirted with a little smile.

"Hey, I know that guy! He's a cop!" Came the harsh cry of Rosebay's bodyguard.

"Oh no..." Lupin murmured in a strangled, pathetic voice free from any accent before springing into action. He saw both Rosebay and his assistant reaching into their coats and went for the closer target. He threw his highball glass hard at Rosebay. The contents arched across the room, spilling golden waves through the air before hitting the man hard. Rosebay reeled and Lupin rolled over the back of his chair, pulling it over and dropping to the floor behind it for cover. The bullets began to fly.

"Get down!" Zenigata yelled pushing the waitress to the floor. He flipped the coffee table over and crouched behind it. "The hell did you do Lupin!?" He said to the man hiding behind the chair just behind him. He reached into his coat and pulled out his gun. He fired back a shot so the men would know he was armed too.

"I didn't do anything! It's you and Little Miss Sidecar playing Mystery Date over there!" Lupin spat. He stuck his head up to continue reading Zenigata the riot act but quickly ducked back down, hands over his head as more bullets whizzed past him.

"It wasn't me! It was her!" Zenigata hollered "Is the girl in the mask down?"

Lupin carefully scanned the room and took in his surroundings. He had his back to the inner wall of the room, with Rosebay and his bodyguard, as well as more coming in at the sound of gunfire, pinning them down and blocking the room's only exit. A few feet ahead, Zenigata and the dark haired server crouched behind the coffee table (Zenigata at the ready with his gun and the girl shaking and apologizing and begging not to be killed beside him) and at the right side of the room, ten or even fifteen feet from him, Lupin saw the doe girl in the shell of the cold fireplace. She was not in cover, just collapsed on the hearth, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Ok, Pops, I'm going to need some cover! You got it?" Lupin called over to Zenigata. Zenigata looked at Lupin with a glint in his eyes that took ten years off him.

"I've got you. Go on." he said to the younger man. As another henchman came to the door, the detective leveled his gun and winged the guy in the shoulder. The man crumpled to the floor with a howl to the left of the door. It wasn't the best or more difficult shot but it was impressive. Turning back to Lupin he said: "Run! Get out of here!" then, whirling around, he knelt and took several shots at the bodyguard.

Lupin pulled another cigarette from his case and clamped it between his teeth. He gathered himself a moment and then spring out from behind the chair. He ran as fast as he could across the room, his bandy legs pumping hard. Using his momentum, Lupin actually took a few steps along the wall before launching himself off it and sliding across the marble floor on his side. He skidded past the fireplace, one arm going around the woman in the evening dress and the other scooping up a nearby fireplace shovel. He scrambled to his feet and ran through the hail of bullets, blocking a few shots with the shovel before rolling behind the coffee table with Zenigata. He let the girl go and fixed Zenigata with a knowing smile of his own.

"Got a light, Pops?" He asked around the cigarette. He lifted his mask on to his forehead and the mischief of a schoolboy was written all over his face. Zenigata looked at Lupin with wide eyes confusion but quickly patted himself down and tossed Lupin the chrome lighter. Lupin caught it and pulled his mask back down.

"Watch your eyes." Lupin instructed. He lit the cigarette and the tip sparked and flared like a sparkler. Lupin chucked it into the middle of the room and before it even hit the ground it exploded into a brief but blinding light. Lupin went running past the stunned men and out the room.

"Catch me if you can, boys!" He tossed over his shoulder as he went.

"That crazy bastard..." Zenigata mumbled. There was his usual sense of annoyance but also a sliver of admiration. There were a few random shots fired from the blinded bodyguard and Zenigata threw himself over the two women. "Don't worry. I'll get you out of here." He said to them.

While Zenigata was distracted Rosebay ran from the room.

Lupin ran into the foyer, now a chaotic mess of screaming, pushing partygoers. The gunshots had sent the crowd into a frenzy and Lupin used it to his advantage, slipping with snake-like grace between the moving panicking bodies. He took a hard left in hopes of rushing out the front door but saw the doormen fighting their way against the current, guns drawn. Lupin doubled back swiftly and went running up the main staircase, hesitating on the landing to look left and right before choosing to retreat up the left and disappearing deeper into the palazzo. He ducked into the first door he came to and sprinted into a dark library.

Tall bookshelves stood in several rows with a center aisle leading up to a large desk and more importantly a set of large picture windows behind it at the far side of the room. Blue moonlight spilled in over the desktop and made thick columns along the ground reaching just to the edge of the rows of books. All Lupin had to do was open those windows to the fragrant night air and he was home free. Zenigata would find his way out. He always did.

He moved to run up the aisle but a thread of hot air vibrated just past his ear and the bullet hit the nearest bookcase, kicking up splinters. Lupin ducked into the darkness of the shelves. He pressed himself back into the shadows. Rosebay stood in the doorway, a small pistol in his hand.

"You aren't getting away from me, Lupin. Yes. I figured you out. Between the talk of San Marino and Rebecca Rossellini, I'm actually mad at myself for not realizing it was you sooner. I've heard you were impudent when it comes to your thievery, with the way you thumb your nose at the police and-" Rosebay shot at a shadow in the dark. He heard the bullet knick the side of the bookshelf. "Those calling cards you always send. I never believed you would work with the police especially against a fellow gentleman of the underworld."

Lupin stepped back carefully from where the round had nearly hit him. Not good. He slipped around the opposite side of the row and squinted into the dark trying to get his bearings in the unfamiliar room. Delicate damasked tapestries hung from the walls. Lupin could climb one and hope to make a break for it along the top of the cases but he couldn't see in the dark how much room he would have to work with up there. Lupin kept his head. He knew that was what you did to stay alive in a time like this.

"Hm, you're no gentleman. A gentleman treats women with grace and dignity. Not like cargo." Lupin silently slipped a book from its spot on the shelf. He poised himself to move and tossed the book out into view before running in the opposite direction. Rosebay took the bait, shooting at the sudden movement, picking the book out of the air like a clay pigeon and sending the pages shredding up into the air like confetti. Lupin ran across the aisle and back into cover, a few steps closer to the window.

"It's just business. You should know that." Rosebay countered. He only had a couple of shots left in his gun as he had let off a couple in the sitting room. "So is the cop fucking you, Lupin? Is that why you switched sides? That was a very convincing performance back there. Hopefully you didn't get too attached. He's probably dead by now." Rosebay aimed calmly into the shadows.

The thief's back was pressed to the bookshelf and he while his eyes were adjusting, he could only see the vague shape of the man and not specifically in what direction he was training his gun. Lupin swallowed hard but smiled never the less.

"That just shows how little you know." Lupin edged to the aisle and waited a moment, gauging his next move. "The only person more determined than me... is Pops!"

Lupin took a forward roll up the aisle and to the next row of bookcases. If he could manage that two more times he'd be out in the open and have to make a final sprint for the window. He had both the camera in his mask and his life at stake but he should be able to manage it. Rosebay took a shot, heard the bullet hit the marble floor and cursed softly. After a moment Rosebay chuckled.

"I don't hear any denial that he fucked you though. I saw the way you looked when that girl was flirting with him." He added blackly. "Perhaps I'll keep you alive. You're strong willed but I've broken stronger. I'm sure you have enemies who would pay a king's ransom for a broken Lupin the Third. A whore that spreads his legs for the police. You could be my greatest seller." He laughed again.

"Such foul talk. I was right. You're no gentleman." Lupin laughed right back. He moved to take another dash but staggered back, pressing himself tight to the shelf as a loud bang rang out. Lupin's heart pounded in his chest, fearing he had been hit but when he felt no pain he looked up to see the flash of light outside. Fireworks for Ferragosto crashing intermittently over the city. Lupin sighed and pushed his heart down out of his throat. He waited to move until the lull between fireworks. Rosebay let off two rounds. The first hit the floor by Lupin's heel and Rosebay overcorrected for the second and it sailed high and away. Lupin stumbled to his knees behind cover.

That was too close. But the bright side was Lupin was one last push from getting out of here. He rose to his feet, eyes trained on the windows.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm not for sale." Lupin called into the darkness. He steeled himself for the final dash. "And I've been counting your shots. You're out of ammo."

Lupin took the first step out into the moonlight and the heavy butt of a gun came down on the back of his head. Rosebay had slipped along the back side of the rows and cut Lupin off. Lupin hit the ground hard, face first. His porcelain mask smashed and the pieces skittered in all different directions. Lupin felt a shard bite into his cheek sharply. He lifted his head heavily just enough to see the camera among the chipped porcelain jonquils then a foot in an expensive dress shoe came down hard on top of it with a sickening crunch. Lupin groaned shallowly.

"Yes. But I can reload." Lupin heard Rosebay say in a dark voice that sounded far away. The thief's head throbbed and he felt a hot trickle of blood spill down his face and drip down his chin. He floundered to push himself up but the world was spinning and he couldn't differentiate the lights flashing behind his eyes from the fireworks outside. Rosebay only loaded one bullet into his pistol. He thumbed back the hammer and leveled the gun at Lupin's lowered head.

"Let's just end things here. I can't sell a damaged product." Rosebay spat. There was the sound of a gun cocking and then Zenigata's voice.

"Lupin better be alive or I'll kill you myself." He said in a dark and dangerous way. Rosebay froze.

"That's not possible. How are you still alive?" He said turning to look at the other man. Zenigata was a little rumpled and maybe a tad bruised but he was still breathing.

"Don't worry about me. Just drop your weapon and put your hands up. It's all over. The ICPO is on their way." The detective said sternly. "Lupin." he called, his gun still trained on Rosebay's head. "You still alive? What'd he do to you?"

"...Cold cocked me." Lupin croaked breathlessly. His head was hung low and he was still trying to get his knees under him. Lupin finally lifted his head and the blood on his face flashed wet in the fireworks.

Zenigata saw red. He didn't know why but it was all-consuming. He hit Rosebay hard on the back of his head with the butt of his gun. The man fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He was surprised he did it. He wasn't the type of officer to use excessive force but he had and he couldn't believe he's done it over Lupin too. He couldn't dwell on it now though. He stepped over the man and immediately knelt beside Lupin to check on him.

"Slow down. Take it slow." He said, taking the thin man's shoulders in his hands to steady him. His eyes scanned the other man.

The fog was starting to clear, although the back of his head still hurt, and Lupin pulled himself to hands and knees. He took hold of Zenigata at the elbow for support and returned the cautious gaze. Zenigata's hair was a bit tousled and a fine sweat had broken along his brow. The dark leather mask was gone, lost in the fray Lupin assumed. Between the pops of the fireworks and the moonlight, Lupin saw a pale bruise on Zenigata's forehead, above the line where his hat would undoubtedly cover. Lupin was sure his was not the only heavy breathing in the room.

Zenigata was tense and his eye trained hard on Lupin. There was a concern in them, certainly, but there was something else as well. Something akin to possessiveness. The inspector was radiating raw masculine power as he came down from the thrill and fear of danger. It transformed him in a way and Lupin was intensely aware of those strong solid hands holding onto him. Zenigata was thrumming with positively animal magnetism and all Lupin wanted to do was jump out of his suit and absolutely debauch himself with the man.

"Pops..." He breathed shakily. The look Lupin gave Zenigata was unlike anything that had been directed at the old detective before. He felt his face heat up. Was it really what he thought it was? That just couldn't be possible. Not old silly Zenigata.

"I'm here." he said back softly. Lupin gathered himself with some effort.

"And just in time too." He laughed weakly. He used Zenigata to steady himself as he got to his feet. Zenigata rose with him but Lupin let go almost immediately. He gingerly touched the back of his head. There was no blood but it stung like hell. He winced. "Pistol whipping a guy from behind? Really, that's just plain rude. Well, how'd you come out of it? Got all your fingers and toes?"

"I'm fine. Though I guess in that respect, I'm not much better than him." Zenigata looked back at the man slumped on the floor. "Guess I was sick of his crap. Coming after you must have been the last straw." his eyes traveled back to Lupin. "You're bleeding. Come here." He pulled his handkerchief out of his back pocket and made to wipe the blood away.

Lupin almost turned on his heel and avoided the touch. He was still a little flustered and it felt strangely out of character in someone as sure as himself. He settled for the middle road and let Zenigata get just close enough to press the handkerchief to his face then nonchalantly took it from him. Their fingers brushed for an imperceptible moment.

"It's not as bad as it looks. Just a lot of sharp edges, that's all." Lupin assured him as he dabbed at the cut. He toed a few shards of the once beautiful mask. Zenigata looked down at the pieces of mask all over the floor. He had missed the shattered porcelain in his worry for Lupin. Now the other man was acting strange. He wanted to pull the thief back and take care of him himself but that seemed like a bad idea.

"Your mask. Maybe it wasn't your best idea to wear a breakable mask." Then it hit him. "The camera!" he looked around his feet and found the smashed lump of plastic and glass. "Damn." he growled as he picked it up and held it in his hand. With the blood wiped away, Zenigata could see Lupin was right when he said it wasn't so bad. The cut itself wasn't beyond the aid of a bandage but it was already beginning to clot.

"What a shame. Such delicate work..." Lupin said mournfully and Zenigata wasn't sure if he meant the mask or the spy camera. He folded the handkerchief and gave it its own bothered frown. He offered the stained cloth back to Zenigata. "Sorry..."

"Keep it." he said. He had others and right now he was mourning the loss of the camera. Lupin smiled, tucking the handkerchief away into his inner coat pocket. Lupin reached out and with a light touch, took the lapel of Zenigata's coat in hand. He leaned in as if to smell the sprig of Lupine flower and said in a velvet and knowing tone:

"Thank you for your humbling devotion once again, Monsieur Jonquil."

Lupin straightened, plucking the buttonhole from Zenigata's suit. He held it out on the flat of his fingers to him and reaching underneath, pressed on something. When he released his fingers a tinny voice issued from the flowers.

"-evotion once again, Monsieur Jonquil." It said. Lupin looked at Zenigata with expectant grace. Zenigata's brow crinkled as he looked at the little blue flower. He gently plucked the flower from Lupin's hand. He held it on his hand and found the button. He pressed it like he had seen Lupin do.

"-once again, Monsieur Jonquil." It parroted again. He smiled. Truly and honestly smiled at Lupin. "You had me miked as a backup. Why didn't you tell me?"

Lupin shrugged but he was wearing that boyish smile that he seemed to favor so often.

"You tend to overthink things. And it's best to play your cards close to your chest. Just in case." He tossed over his shoulder as he approached the desk. He began to shift through the paperwork on top and toy with the various books and paperweights. The detective smiled at the lupine in his hand then. He'd have enough evidence now to put Rosebay away for the rest of his life. This thought brought him back to the other man.

"You should get going soon. I called the ICPO from the phone downstairs as soon as I knocked down his thug. They should be here soon. I ain't gonna haul you in cause you helped me but some of the others aren't gonna feel so generous." he told Lupin as he continued rooting around the drawers. Lupin looked away from his work to regard the inspector. He was holding a few sheets of paper.

"Well, we did have a deal. You promised to let me go next time I stole something." He stated in a teasing voice. He held up the papers and Zenigata could see that they were bearer bonds issued in U.S. currency. There were about half a dozen in the stack. He waved them a little mockingly. "Consider it cashed in."

Looking between the pile of bearer bonds and Lupin, Zenigata's eyebrows went up in surprise. "That's it? I was expecting a whole gallery of art or an entire jewelry store." He walked over to the other man. Lupin tucked the bonds away. They weren't much but Lupin hadn't been actively looking for a big score tonight.

"All excellent suggestions. I'll take them into consideration if that's what you want." He said easily. Lupin appreciated the momentary spark of consternation in Zenigata's eyes but didn't acknowledge it. Zenigata supposed that it was better to be done with than wait around to see when Lupin called to have his debt repaid.

"I'm a man of my word. Not that this will make much difference when I do catch you." He joked with a little smirk on his face. He was in a good mood. They had brought down a truly awful scum bag. "You did really good back there. If you ever wanna give up a life of crime you'd make a good cop." He leaned his hip against the desk in a nonchalant manner and a little part of his brain asked him why he was flirting with Lupin.

"I could give you the vice versa on that one. Maybe someday when you finally catch me and Interpol gives you a comfortable desk job, you'll eventually get bored and you can take my place as the world's greatest thief. You know all the tricks, after all. Thanks to me."

Lupin's smile made the cut on the face sting but it was worth it to see the look on Zenigata's face. He pressed on not wishing to send Zenigata on a tangent.

"You could have just let him kill me. Then I'd be out of your hair." Lupin joked.

"I don't want you dead, Lupin. I want you brought to justice." Zenigata said quicker than he planned to. He stopped and looked at the floor a moment. "Let's be honest. The world would be a little darker without you in it. You may be a thief but you're a good man." Zenigata was blushing and he was thankful for the darkness in the room as some form of cover.

The exploding fireworks painted the man's defined bone structure in warm golds and regal purples and Lupin found himself enchanted all over again. Lupin was led by his desires, always had been. People had called him unstable and insensitive and impulsive, but Lupin liked to see it as being free. It was humbling to think that Zenigata, the most societally caged man to have ever lived, understood the thief so completely. Lupin was inextricably drawn to the other man and here and now, Lupin had to act on the desire before him or it would break his heart and he would die.

"It's nice to hear you say that." Lupin made it sound effortless and gracious. He placed a hand on the desk and leaned in closer to Zenigata. They didn't touch but with Lupin's hand on the desk by Zenigata's hip and their chests aligned with mere inches of space between them, the anticipation felt more potent. Lupin looked into Zenigata's face with a sensual scrutiny.

"Did you wonder why I picked jonquils? For your name, I mean." He asked in a voice that made Zenigata think of the femme fatales in black and white noir movies. Zenigata swallowed thickly. Lupin was so close and his cologne smelled so good.

"I didn't really think about it. Just thought you had a mask with them on it." he said a bit flustered.

"Well, I chose them for a very specific reason." Lupin informed him. Lupin's eyes were always so gentle, more kind than one would expect from someone in his line of work. Nevertheless, they were pinning Zenigata down with an intensity that was naked and alluring. He placed his hand over Zenigata's and lifted the lupine up between them. "This little flower isn't the only one who can talk. If you listen closely, all flowers can tell you what they have to say."

This wasn't how Zenigata had expected the night to go. He felt like he was in a room with Fujiko rather than Lupin but he didn't dislike it. A little part of his brain told him he should but he just couldn't be bothered by that now.

"That whack to the head may have been harder than you thought if you think flowers can talk." He said with a slightly nervous laugh but he didn't pull away. He was drawn in by those dark intense eyes. Lupin's smile split to reveal teeth in a look of warmth that was apt to intensify to a smolder soon enough. Lupin tilted his head and leaned in. He could feel Zenigata's breath on his lips.

"Oh they can. I've heard them." Lupin thought of the singing flowers from Alice in Wonderland and it made him laugh. It was a sweet enticing sound against the fireworks and approaching police sirens. Lupin squeezed his hand around Zenigata's own. "Maybe if we both stop talking, you'll hear it too."

Zenigata's heart was pounding in his chest. He looked into Lupin's eyes. There was longing there and he wanted to taste it. He wanted to devour every last morsel. He had never felt hunger like this before. Lupin was going kiss him and the inspector was going to let him. He closed his eyes and waited for the brush of lips on lips.

"Excuse me? Are you really a police officer?" It was a small meek voice that drew his attention away from the kiss. Zenigata couldn't help but turn away to see where it came from. There in the doorway was the girl in the doe mask.

"Yes ma'am, I am..." he said somewhat distracted. When he turned back to talk to Lupin he was gone. Nothing but an open window and fluttering drapes were left in his wake and Zenigata felt the loss of this man more than he had ever felt in his life.

"Can you get us out of here?" she asked stepping into the room. "I know where the other girls are."

"I won't leave you here." Zenigata reassured her. "And don't worry. Rosebay won't hurt anyone ever again."

The girl pulled off her mask. She was younger than Zenigata originally thought and that made it all harder. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," The detective said after a moment. His attention was on the small blue flower in his hand.

All the woman were taken from the house and put into protective custody until they could get through the medical and mental checks. They were more than willing to give statements, all of this headed by the girl in the mask at the party. Her name was Isadora, Zenigata found out later.

Though he knew he shouldn't have, Zenigata didn't turn in the lupine microphone into evidence right away. He wasn't ready to share that with anyone. He sat on his bed in his hotel room and listened to all of the conversation again. Certain parts he replayed over and over again.

_"He may seem cold but he's a surprisingly tender lover."_

_"Who better to protect my life than the one I give it to willingly."_

_"Maybe if we both stop talking, you'll hear it too."_

That voice made his heart ache and he listened over and over and over late into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Zenigata turned in the voice recorder the next morning. He had found a series of control buttons upon closer inspection and erased the last few minutes to conceal Lupin's involvement in the operation - not to mention the final tense words they had exchanged, as much as it pained him to do so. With that piece of evidence in their possession, the Italian police force had everything they needed for a full scale prosecution. Zenigata had essentially blown the case wide open singlehandedly and he was commended for it. Zenigata humbly accepted the praise from his higher ups and only asked that he be returned to the Lupin taskforce now that the matter at hand had been settled, a request that was happily granted.

One could say that things were back to the status quo for the inspector. The only discrepancy with that line of thinking stemmed from the fact that before the Rosebay case, Lupin had been striking with regularity and now that Zenigata could presumably get at the thief, he was nowhere to be found. That was until Zenigata was called into a crime scene at the Museo Correr.

A former palace, the museum was an opulent building that was just as much as work of art as the sculptures and historical artifacts inside. Zenigata passed through the ornate halls without bothering to take in his regal surroundings. When he thought about it, he had the opportunity to see the wonders of the world, thanks to Lupin, but he found you never could afford to stop to look at any of it when you were preoccupied with your target. No matter how many palaces Zenigata walked through, they were not what was worth it to him.

Zenigata traveled upstairs to the picture gallery and was guided by his local contact in the Polizia de Stato, Sub-Inspector Brosi Maggiorana. He was a uniformed officer, ectomorphic frame wrapped in a soft blue button down with epaulets, white belt and crossbody shoulder strap as well as jackboots and black trousers with a thick red stripe. He was a dark haired man who could not have been far beyond his thirtieth birthday which was uncommon for a man of his rank. That, mixing with the familiar semi-round set of his jaw and his preference for wearing his peaked cap low, had earned him a good hard yank on the skin of his cheek from Zenigata, as a precaution that he wasn't in fact Lupin in disguise. Maggiorana was confused but chalked it up to the inspector eccentric personality which did indeed proceed him.

"It's this way, sir. Room forty-two." Maggiorana said, leading Zenigata to a room with displays of Renaissance ceramics and ivory carvings. He lifted the police tape over the door for Zenigata to enter. There were fifteenth-century relics painted in the bright hues of the Majolica style, basins and fruit dishes with grotesques or portraits of Alexander the Great and rows of wide plates depicting the Rape of Helen, the Death of Psyche and other mythological subjects. It was a riot of color and art. Zenigata looked around the large and opulent room. 

"So what'd he take?" He asked Maggiorana after a moment. There was no bare wall where a painting was once placed. No empty plinth that would have borne an artifact or statue. Everything looked perfectly museum like to him and Zenigata had seen plenty of museums in his time chasing Lupin. 

His eyes passed over Maggiorana. He was an attractive man. At least what he could see of his face with the way he wore his hat so low. Zenigata had caught himself noticing handsome men more these days. He especially noticed when they smiled back at him. This usually elicited a blush and for the inspector to hunch his shoulders and hurry on his way.

"It's a vase. Late fifteenth century. It's a piece by Flaminio Fontana and it's valued at over twenty-five thousand euro." Maggiorana informed him. His accent was rich and deep with the musicality of all Italians and his full lips were held in a serious grimace as they approached the middle of the room. 

On a small dais was a three foot tall vase made of red crystal. It was shaped out of deep geometric bevel cuts and mounted on a black Italian marble base, much like a trophy. Arranged in the vase was a lush and full bouquet of flowers in fiery colors. Burgundy geraniums mingled with full round marigolds. There were zinnias in red and orange, the yellow rings in their centers looking like a hundred miniature suns mid-eclipse. Stems of dark pink sweet peas shot through with the delicacy of lace amongst the more robust blooms. Hanging around the edge of the vase like grapes spilling from the horn of plenty, were the tassels of dusty and deep magenta amaranth and slender branches with dense masses of blush colored tamarisk. Above, yew branches intertwined with the stand-up sprigs of yellow wormwood flowers and stretched toward the ceiling bringing the full display to over four feet. It was like a beacon; an explosion frozen in time and it muted the colors of the exhibits all around it. And in the center of it all, Zenigata saw a blue lupine and a yellow jonquil.

Zenigata bit his tongue when he saw the two flowers in the center of the vase. What was Lupin doing sneaking into a museum to put flowers in an expensive vase? The detective circled the display. His brow crinkled as he tried to figure out this odd behavior. Finally, he stopped beside Maggiorana. 

"I thought you said he stole the vase." He said after a moment. Maggiorana sniffed and cleared his throat, Zenigata presumed from some kind of embarrassed unease.

"He, uuhh..." Maggiorana hung on the thinking sound, his oral posture turning it into an 'eyy' sound. He looked as if he were trying to figure out how to say it. "He did, sir. He...put this new vase in the spot of the one he stole."

Zenigata couldn't see the Italian's brows but the brim of his hat shifted upward. It asked Zenigata if he was just as confused.

"The crazy bastard." Zenigata growled between his gritted teeth. He was red faced and steam was about to come out of his ears. What was the big idea?! Clearly, Lupin was trying to make him look foolish in front of the local authorities. "He usually sends a calling card first. Since he didn't I'm guessing he's still working alone. Did he leave a card behind? He's known to do that on solo heists."

Maggiorana said nothing but pulled a card in a small evidence bag from his front pocket and offered it to Zenigata. He sniffed again, a little more distinct. Zenigata took it, recognizing the red playing card motif with the cheery little caricature of the thief. He flipped it over and in long, graceful cursive saw the words written there. ' _À mon garde du corps, avec envie. Lupin III'_ ; To my bodyguard, with longing...

Zenigata's head shot up and he looked at the display of flowers with wide eyes. They were for him? With ... _longing_? He remembered the feel of Lupin's breath against his lips and that warm long-fingered hand on his. How the fireworks had boomed in the distance and how that moment has stretched on forever with no resolution. He remembered what Lupin said then. That flowers could talk. But what in the world could that mean?

Marching up to the bouquet he glared at it as if it had the answers hidden somewhere but all he saw was the riot of colors on the petals. 

"Have evidence look for bugs. I wanna list of every flower here. He's sending a message. There must be a code or something." He started to turn away but paused and looked at the flowers again. They were for him and he knew evidence would take the whole thing apart in their search. It left an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. Zenigata wasn't used to receiving presents. He wanted this one. It was evidence now and shouldn't be touched but the inspector couldn't help himself. He made sure no one was looking before plucking out the jonquil and lupine then tucked them carefully in the inside pocket of his coat before turning back to his Italian counterpart.

"Bugs? On the flowers?" Maggiorana said it as if he were aware of the joke lurking in the phrase but either was too polite or too embarrassed to acknowledge the nonsense of it. Zenigata's eyes were serious when he turned to Maggiorana. 

"I understand you're some young hotshot but you better take Lupin seriously." He stepped into the younger man's personal space, his face stoic. Zenigata had a few inches on Maggiorana and he used it. "He'll rob this whole damn city blind if you don't."

Maggiorana lifted his head to look at Zenigata from under the brim of his officer's cap. It was

the first good look he had gotten of the man and he was correct in thinking him handsome. Zenigata sensed a pulse of tension from the officer. He had seen it before. The local contacts would sometime get the itch for glory, smelling blood in the water at the chance to nab an international criminal like Lupin. Zenigata, for his part, would have none of it. Maggiorana had an unreadable expression on his face. Zenigata waited for a response.

Maggiorana sneezed in his face.

Zenigata stood there with his eyes shut and his brow furrowed. He slowly reached into his back pocket for his handkerchief and came up empty. A flash of Lupin with the cut on his face. Zenigata had told him to keep the handkerchief. Once again Lupin pushed into his thoughts. He wiped his face with his sleeve then glared at Maggiorana. 

"Just get me that list." He said before pushing past the other man.

  
When the list of flowers came, Zenigata commandeered a desk and set to work. It was midday when he started. Slowly, crumpled papers and books and half-empty coffee cups stacked up on every surface as the sun moved across the sky. The inspector tried every code he could think of. Taking the first letters from each flower and trying to make words from them. Adding numerical values to each letter and trying to find a code that way. He asked for books on ciphers and codes and botany. Nothing made sense. 

When he finally looked up from his work, Zenigata realized how late it was. Most of the police officers had gone home and the late shift has started some time ago. He ran one of his big hands over his face and sighed as he leaned back in his chair. After a moment he sat back up and reached into his inner pocket. The jonquil and lupine were a bit wilted but not too bad. He placed them on the desk and picked up one of the empty cups. Returning a moment later he placed the flowers in the cup of water and sat back down. They did look nice together. Happy. Bright. But no matter how long he sat there looking at them, they never said a word.

A full week passed and in that time, Zenigata was able to make no progress. Lupin was usually so much more direct in his exploits. Once the game was afoot, his calling cards were to the point as far as where and what his next target was. It was like a spectator sport that the thief wanted as many people as possible tuning into. It was so unlike Lupin to strike and withdraw as he had. It perplexed Zenigata. He knew Lupin was up to something, but it galled him to have not a single clue as to what it was.

Well, one clue. Lupin's words rang in Zenigata's ears and he turned them over and over again in his mind but found no thread to a logical answer. Even more frustrating was the fact that Zenigata kept waking up with delicate floral fragrances and the phantom touch of lips he had never actually experienced in his mind. The night at Rosebay's palazzo has ended on a crescendo with no resolution and it was incredibly vexing.

It was the buzz of his phone that had woken him on the morning the second crime scene was discovered. He was having a dream and it had been tense and sensual. The feeling of the ground on his bare back, blue sky overhead and all around him, the sway of tall reaching jonquils. Their rustle sounded like whispers of words Zenigata couldn't make out but it was soothing and hypnotic and made the inspector's head spin. When the bare body rolled over on top of him, arms encircling his neck, Zenigata only had time to see those dark gentle eyes before his lips were captured and his world went white with pleasure.

Zenigata sat up in bed, heart pounding. He looked over to his phone, tried his best to compose himself then picked it up and answered. He heard the voice of Maggiorana on the other side.

"Inspector, it happened again. We need you to take a look at this."

Zenigata assured Maggiorana that he would be there as soon as possible before getting the address of the crime scene and hanging up. He sat on the edge of the bed for a moment to gather himself completely. His erection tented his boxers as it had every morning after waking but he had refused to touch himself because he knew he'd only be able to think of Lupin and he just couldn't allow that.

When Zenigata arrived at the jewelry shop in San Samuele, Maggiorana was waiting outside for him. He stood at rigid attention. As he approached the man, Zenigata could see that Maggiorana's nose was red.

"Sir." He said, saluting.

"Maggiorana." He saluted back. He took a good look at the other man. "Are you sick, sub-inspector?" He asked when he observed the red nose and sniffling from the other man. Maggiorana looked down and away, a clear indication of embarrassment.

"No, sir. I'm allergic to pollen." He said at last as if removing the words from his mouth as quickly as possible would negate the indignity of them. He opened the door to the jewelry store sharply. Zenigata thought he had done it to signal that the matter was closed but then the wall of thick perfume hit him and the inspector realized it was to prove his point.

Zenigata stepped into the shop. Every piece of jewelry had been cleaned out, and the multiple glass display cases had been filled with flowers in shades of purple and white. Each ring and bracelet had been replaced with a blossom, nestled on velvet cushions and twisted around stands. Burgundy roses and soft spotted orchids were laid out with care on trays. Strings of purple columbine, their pointed inner petals looking like stars, had been made into beautiful chains and hung on t-stands. Dense clusters of sweet william with white edges and deep mulberry centers and stems of wolf's bane were held in the hand shaped displays, long fingers and thin wrists decorated with bowl-like, plum and pearl hollyhocks, expertly woven together so their notched petals brushed but did not crowd each other. Swaths of lilac were draped over necklace busts and small flat purple pansies absolutely covered mesh earring racks, thin stems threaded through the holes of the mesh. The mirrors in and around the display cases reflected their beauty, making the already impressive display look two-fold in the single room shop and yet still more stray flowers dusted the free spaces on countertops and between the racks like loose diamonds without settings.

Zenigata couldn't believe his eyes. This was beyond anything he could have imagined. He had thought there was no way that Lupin could outdo a four-foot flower display but he had. It was beautiful and despite himself, Zenigata couldn't help but be amazed by it. The display spoke of every flower being lovingly placed in each spot with an expert hand. He walked further into the room and he was surrounded by the scent of lilac and rose. Calm and romantic and wonderful. The inspector hated himself for wondering if this was all for him.

Maggiorana was trailing a step behind. He had his handkerchief pressed to his face and he was sneezing into it as discreetly as possible.

"He left another card, inspector." He informed Zenigata, muffled through the cloth. He pointed rather than leading the way and Zenigata followed the line of his long arm to the biggest display case in the room's center. It was a glass box lit with LED lights that bounced off the rotating mirrored base inside. A pale painted mannequin bust and two matching hands spun slowly inside. More floral jewelry had been rigged up on this display but the only two flowers used were blue lupine and yellow jonquil. Large blooms stood out on the fingers and wrapped around wrists like gaudy costume pieces The lupine flowers dripped like sapphires around a slender artificial neck. There was even a full splendid crown of yellow and blue blossoms that looked soft and light despite the prodigious amount of flowers in it.

Perched in one of the mannequin hands was a calling card, one with a motif and drawing Zenigata recognized. As it turned in it's rotating case, the words on the card slowly revealed themselves to Zenigata.

' _À mon garde du corps, avec admiration. Lupin III_.'

"To my bodyguard with admiration." Zenigata growled. French had become a second language to Zenigata. Not that he had gone out of his way to learn it. It had become a necessity with years of chasing Lupin. He looked around the room. This display was all for him.

"How much was all this worth this time?" he asked Maggiorana without looking at the other man.

"Appropriately eighty thousand euro." Maggiorana answered. He was wearing a scowl on his face. "This is all pretty foolish if you ask me. Who's this bodyguard? You said he's been working alone. And none of these calling cards are saying where he'll hit next. It goes completely against his M.O. I say it's not even Lupin. Probably just some copycat trying to get a boost from using his name."

Zenigata wished that was true. 

"He must have a new partner. Or he's just trying to throw us off the trail." He lied. "This is Lupin's work alright. No one else would ever do something this gaudy." Looking back at the display case the inspector grew somber. Why would Lupin go to all this trouble just for him? It said "with admiration"? So Zenigata's original belief that this was all to make him look the fool was out the window. Lupin was a thief but he was also a man of his word. Finally, he turned back to Maggiorana. "Have your men take pictures and I'll need another list of the flowers. Do you have an evidence bag?"

Maggiorana seemed nonplussed about this whole business but pulled a clear bag from his back pocket and handed it to the inspector. He didn't let go when Zenigata put his fingers around it. Maggiorana tilted his head and Zenigata caught the glint of his eyes beneath his cap.

"Seems you're used to his attitude. Do you like spending all your time with people as bratty as him...?" He said. It was a cryptic question and Zenigata couldn't decipher it in conjunction with Maggiorana's haughty look. There was a challenge there, what kind Zenigata couldn't place. Maggiorana let go of the bag and before Zenigata could acknowledge his words, went to go about the orders given to him and more importantly to get away from the heavy pollen in the air.

He looked after the young detective as he went and Zenigata wondered to himself when his world got so odd. But he knew the answer to that question. Turning back to the display case, the inspector careful bagged the card while making sure his fingerprints didn't get on it. He looked at the card for a bit before placing it in his pocket. Before closing the case, Zenigata slipped two flowers from the fingers of the mannequin and tucked them into the inside pocket of his coat.

Another long night of cross-referencing flowers against potential factors in the case awaited Zenigata. Once again he could find no correlation between any of the flowers found in the jewelry shop or between this crime scene and the previous week's one at the museum. He scoured maps, looking for street names or businesses that might indicate a future target but he came up empty.

Zenigata went back to his hotel room after hours and hours of work but he didn't go to bed. He placed the jonquil and lupine from that day in their own empty coffee cup on the dresser beside the ones from a week ago, which were wilting but he didn't have the heart to toss them out. 

They were bright colored reminders of the night in the palazzo. The praise that slid from Lupin's lips and how those lips felt against his knuckles. The way those rich warm eyes looked up at him with such adoration and lust. Zenigata had chalked it up to playing the role. It could never be real. Even if their stories weren't what they were, that of cops and robbers, someone like Lupin would never look at him. He was old. He was beat up. He drank too much coffee and ate too much cup noodle and some times sake could be his undoing. A suave young man like Lupin would never look at an old wash up like him. 

But then, why the flowers? Why did Lupin seem like he would kiss Zenigata at the end of the night? There had been no one there to play act for. It was just the two of them. Surely it was just Lupin playing with him. It wasn't unlikely for that to happen. 

And what about the way Maggiorana had looked at him today? There had been something behind that comment and that look but really it all had to be wishful thinking. As much as Zenigata didn't want to admit it both men were his type. 

The inspector sat down hard on his bed with his face in his hands as he thought back to his academy days. There had been another young man when he was also in his prime. He was tall, slim with dark hair with an easy smile and contagious laugh. They had studied together. They had pushed each other in physical training. Sometimes they went out together. It was on one of those nights where they had stumbled back to Zenigata's place and into his bed. It had mostly been hot mouths and tongues sliding together and wandering hands that stroked to climax but it was more than either man had ever done before. 

When the sun came up the next morning they were laying together and there was no regret. There wasn't love there but it was good to have someone like you around. They were friends who understood that while it wasn't illegal to be what they were or do what they were doing, it wasn't acceptable in the social norms of Japan. They spent the next few months having their affair. They would sneak off to closets during study breaks and spend the night in each other's beds when possible. Zenigata was somewhat ashamed of his wanton youth but it was all surely behind him. 

When both men graduated from the academy they had gone their separate ways. No goodbyes. No looking back. It was one thing to fool around as a young man but he was an adult now with responsibilities. His bride soon entered the picture. He liked women well enough. They were soft and they smelled good but he still preferred the hard angles of a man in his bed. Zenigata could honestly say he never cheated on his wife in a traditional sense. He was faithful and true but the birth of their daughter was the end of their sexual relationship. Work was his mistress and chasing Lupin became his life's work. 

Zenigata let out a mirthless chuckle. Perhaps he had cheated on his wife with Lupin and now it seemed as though the chase was becoming mutual.

With a sardonic look at the flowers, Zenigata had to admit something to himself. He wanted Lupin but what was he to do now that he knew he was falling for the criminal he had been charged to put into jail?

It was a long and sleepless night.

  
It was the third heist that undid Zenigata. He stepped off the patrol boat and approached the iron gates of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a building with a long low facade along the Grand Canal. The gallery was not large in comparison to the other grand palaces that housed the older artwork of the city but Zenigata saw it was still nothing to sneeze at. Zenigata was very glad for the sake of professional diplomacy that he had not voiced that thought when he laid eyes on Maggiorana.

The sub-inspector was waiting for him. He was sipping on a bottle of nondrowsy allergy medicine and wore a look of unapologetic petulance on his face. He swapped the medicine for a handkerchief and quickly wiped his streaming eyes as Zenigata approached him.

"More flowers, Sub-Inspector?" Zenigata asked. Nothing could be as bad as the jewelry store. He had braced himself as soon a Maggiorana had called.

"What do you think?" Maggiorana all but snapped then immediately grounded himself, twisting his handkerchief in his hand "I'm sorry, sir. That was uncalled for..."

"It's fine." Zenigata interjected. "I understand how these things can put people on edge. Lupin has that effect." He clapped a hand on the other man's shoulder and sighed. "Let's get this over with. How bad can it be?" And with that, he stepped inside.

Zenigata thought nothing could be bigger than the show at the jewelry store. He was dead wrong. 

The floors of every room were strewn with a thick carpet of cut flowers. On every bench and window sill were laid everything from heliotrope to syrian mallow and the green scent of it all was overwhelming. And on every wall, the art was missing. The canvases had been taken from their frames, which hung still on the wall, only now each frame had been wrapped in hundreds of flowers all different colors. As Zenigata passed from the lobby to the inner gallery he gaped at the massive outlines of white carnations and pink and white roses where art of a different kind use to be. He brushed red tulips and clusters of yarrow out of his path with each step.

Vines of red morning glory and honeysuckle choked the window lattice between works, spilling leaves and shoots down to join the carpet of green spotted with blossoms. Soft cabbage roses mingled with bright crimson and yellow star-shaped polyanthus and pink dianthus. Flaxen and cream sprays of acacia climbed the sharp angles of the frames dazzling the eyes as they mingled with scarlet chrysanthemum and fragrant gardenia. The entire gallery had been transformed into a meadow and every painting had been replaced with floral lines framing plain white walls.

Zenigata stood in the middle of it all and took it all in. It was beautiful and awful. Standing in the middle of one room he turned slowly and took it all in. No lupine. No jonquil. Maybe Lupin wasn't stealing on the pretext that it was for Zenigata anymore. It wasn't beyond Lupin to get bored with his little games. He turned back to Maggiorana. 

"Where's the note?" He hoped there wasn't one. Maggiorana was holding his handkerchief over his mouth like a gas mask but it didn't help the sneezing and coughing. He held his breath long enough to point across the room without convulsing. There was a clear path cut out of flowers, laid purposefully and leading deeper into the rooms of the gallery.

Zenigata gave a long-suffering sigh before walking into the next room. It was a riot of blue and yellow. Every frame was wrapped in lupine and jonquil. The flowers lined the floor except for the path cut through them leading to the largest frame in the room.

The frame took up the entirety of the wall. It was easily nine feet high and it stretched almost twenty feet long. Shafts of morning light streamed through between the lupine and jonquil threaded into the lattice of the windows, making the thin petals glow. The words had been written with long artful strokes, applied to the white wall with care in cerulean paint and took up the full span of where the painting once was. Zenigata knew the handwriting instantly.

' _À mon garde du corps, avec amour. Lupin III'_

Zenigata stared. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't speak. That last word. It was that last word that did it. Love. With love. What game was Lupin playing? Whatever it was, Zenigata didn't like it and he wanted out. He finally turned away to speak to Maggiorana. 

"Same as before. Get me a list. Once you give the order get out of here. I don't need you sicker than you already are. I appreciate your work."

Maggiorana pulled a folded page from his back pocket and held it out to Zenigata.

"Already done." He said. His voice was husky with the pollen. He turned to look at the message in front of them.

"'Mural' by Jackson Pollock." Maggiorana explained. He looked around at the other empty frames in the room. "Also Kandinsky, Dali, Picasso, Duchamp. Over a hundred pieces, gone just like that."

He sighed through his teeth, a sign of annoyance.

"The security cameras weren't able to get anything either." He nodded to a camera high overhead. A dwarf sunflower covered the lens entirely. Zenigata saw that was the case for each camera in the room. The inspector didn't mention Maggiorana going home again. It was admirable how he was so steadfast when it came to his work, at least in Zenigata's opinion. He took the paper, noting how Maggiorana held it a moment before letting it go. 

"So how much did he steal this time?"

"We're still assessing that, actually." Maggiorana answered. He went back to looking at the place where the Pollock had hung. His eyes were cold in the shade of his hat brim. "Who the hell are they? This stupid bodyguard, I mean. Must have Lupin wrapped around their finger to get him working so hard."

Zenigata stiffened. He tried to play it cool. He was sweating. He could feel it.

"Doesn't matter. What matters is Lupin has pulled three major crimes in the last month with no signs of stopping. He needs to be caught."

"I'm almost jealous. Wish I could find a man so devoted." He said. Despite the rasp in his tone, Zenigata could recognize a strange kind of pensiveness there. Zenigata blinked as he turned to look at the other man. "A devoted man" wasn't how he'd describe Lupin but maybe he had been wrong. He wasn't wrong about Maggiorana though. He did like men and that... That was enticing. 

Maggiorana gave the wall one last disapproving look, before turning and walking away. He ignored the cleared path, the long cut stems crunching under his shoes as he left.

"Hey! Get off the flowers!" Zenigata said loudly. They were his flowers. He couldn't keep them but he didn't want them trampled on. "I mean...." he continued, stumbling over his words a bit. "I mean, it's evidence."

Maggiorana stopped where he was and turned at the hip to regard Zenigata with perplexity. He lifted a foot to look down at the foliage then sniffed, whether in disdain or from allergies the inspector couldn't tell. He stepped onto the cleared hardwood and stalked off.

With Maggiorana gone, Zenigata leaned closer and stole his customary two flowers. With his little treasures tucked inside his coat, he stood back and looked at that giant message. 

With love. 

His eyes kept tracing those words over and over again. One would think those words would be easy enough to decipher but it was never that simple with Lupin. It could mean his love for the chase or his love of crime. Those were good ideas but it had to be more. His love for art and beauty were another place where Lupin prided himself. And yet there was something missing there too. The inspector slid one hand under his hat to scratch at his scalp. There was no way Lupin meant he loved Zenigata. It just didn't make sense. This was some mean joke carried over from the intimacy they had played at in the palazzo. Lupin must know how it all affected him. How its slow burn was eating him whole. 

This morning Zenigata had woken from yet another vivid dream. Long-limbed lovers in lush gardens. A hot eager mouth which had explored his own and places much further down. As he had carded his fingers through close-cropped hair he had smelled greenery and the perfume of a million flowers and then he was over and in his lover with those mischievous dark eyes looking up at him. The dream ended before the climax as it always did. Just when he had made those laughing eyes roll back with pleasure Zenigata opened his own eyes and was alone. 

He had given into his weakness then. The dream had been so real. Each one had felt more real than the last. In his mind, he had made love to Lupin in all the most beautiful gardens all over the world but never to completion. This morning he couldn't take it again. He had orgasmed hard across his own stomach as he groaned Lupin's name into his pillow. Luckily, the inspector hadn't had too much time to dwell on it as his phone had rung shortly after and duty called. 

  
At the station, he could feel expectant eyes on him. The books climbed higher and so did the empty coffee cups and full ashtrays. Each new thought was quickly squashed, each lead he kept thinking he found brought him to a dead end. He knew they were all talking about it. They were all talking about how the famous Zenigata was being bested with flowers. Lupin's jokes had finally gone too far. 

After all of that Zenigata was forced to take this affront now. It was enough to make him see red. Having worked himself into an angry lather he turned and started out of the building and to the door. As he left he encountered one of the low-level guards assigned to the door. 

"If your superior finds anything else out tell him I'll be working from my hotel room." He growled before leaving. He couldn't stand another day of sitting in the station where every officer there watched him flounder. 

True to his word, Zenigata went right to work as soon as he got back to his room. Once again he tried all the codes and ciphers he could find but it yielded nothing as he expected. He then turned to the messages that accompanied each set of flowers. With longing. With admiration. With love. There was a pause as he wrote the last word onto the note pad he was working on. Zenigata physically shook his head to clear it of the thoughts that were running through it before soldiering on. He scrambled the letters. Changed words around. Still nothing. 

With an afflicted sigh, Zenigata turned to his very last resort. Technology. 

Those in his regular task force would tell you that good old Inspector Zenigata hated technology. This was a half-truth. The inspector didn't like using technology if there were other ways but if all else failed you could always do a search.

Zenigata pulled out his phone and pulled up a search engine. He looked up all the words in several different languages. He looked for quotes with all three words in it. He even looked up local places that may have correspondence to any of those words. This was his downfall. 

It was getting late and Zenigata was getting desperate. He did a search for "Venice love men". The search results were not what he had expected. Advertisements for Venetian saunas were the first thing that popped up. Then websites for gay clubs in the area complete with pictures of half naked men, packed dance floors and neon-lit bars. Most of these places offered private rooms and one even boasted of a maze.

Zenigata blushed bright red and almost dropped his phone. He held the screen close to his chest for a moment as if someone was spying on him and he had to hide it or be discovered. Once his heart stopped pounding he looked back at the screen. All thoughts of the case vanished as he scrolled through the pictures from one club that wasn't far from his hotel. 

His eyes shifted to his closet. Within hung the suit Lupin had given him the night they had gone to Rosebay's party at the palazzo. He didn't know what he would do with such a nice suit. He couldn't wear it to work. He could wear it to a club though, a little voice in his head said. He could wear it out and meet someone. He could let some of this tension go. Zenigata was blushing again. 

He couldn't do that. But then again the little voice, that was sounding more and more like Lupin, reminded him that he actually could. That he was an adult and he was off the clock at this hour. He could do whatever he liked.

Zenigata stood and placed the phone on the desk. He would go to bed he decided. If he was asleep he wouldn't give in to this temptation. Starting towards the bathroom, he remembered all the dreams and paused. That wasn't any good either. 

_Might as well go then._ Said the little voice in his head and Zenigata turned to the closet. Sliding the door open he took out the suit. Yes. He'd go. He'd have a drink. That was all. Get it out of his system.

With that, he got ready.


	4. Chapter 4

An hour later Zenigata walked into the club with false bravado. The moment he stepped foot inside it was sensory overload. Loud music and flashing lights. Male flesh on display. In his expensive suit, he was very much overdressed as attractive young men danced around him in little more than jockstraps. He had even managed to twist together one of his stray lupine and jonquil and pin it to his lapel. It made him stand out that much more, but the suit had looked incomplete without it.

His heart was hammering inside his chest almost louder than the dance music but he kept his head up and walked with confidence to the bar. He saw heads turn as he walked. He absolutely stood out but the stares were more out of lust than anything. 

When he had almost reached the bar one of the young men who seemed to be dancing for the entertainment of the patrons winked at him and gave him a sultry look. Zenigata's first instinct was to blush and turn away but in this suit, he felt more confident. He gave the man a half smile and went on his way. It felt good and he didn't know anyone here. He could let go. It was freeing. 

Zenigata found an open space at the bar and leaned in. He thought of all the American detective movies he'd seen and emulated that attitude. When the bartender came over he ordered a scotch and soda. The handsome half naked bartender nearly tripped over himself to get his order. In a show of new confidence, he winked as he accepted his drink. He sipped it as he looked around the room. This was a good idea. He smiled and as the minutes ticked by, Zenigata felt that much more comfortable with himself. Perhaps it was the burn of the scotch he was almost constantly sipping or the hedonistic crowd all around him, but he felt wicked and he actually liked it. It felt wonderful not to be the good guy for once.

"Oh, my God." It was a voice that was surprised, very much surprised but pleasantly so. "Sir?"

Zenigata turned to face the owner of the voice and for a split second could've sworn it was Lupin, all long limbs and thin frame. But the spinning lights stopped playing their tricks and Zenigata realized that it was in fact, Sub-Inspector Maggiorana. He was a far cry from how he looked in his uniform. Zenigata started at the top and looked him over in complete shock. Maggiorana was wearing a blue mesh racerback tank top that hugged the slim angles of his torso and showed of his lithe runner's body. It curled at the edge, allowing Maggiorana's cut hip bones to peak out of the lowrise black leather pants he was sporting. They were tight almost as if they were a second skin with a gleaming silver zipper that started at the waistband and ran down and underneath the length of a considerably full crotch. Zenigata was strangely concerned to see Maggiorana was wearing the jackboots from his uniform.

Zenigata's gaze returned to Maggiorana's face. It was the first time he had seen the man without his hat and he was just as handsome as he had thought. He had a slight widow's peak in his brown short buzzed hair and full well groomed eyebrows. Zenigata was surprised to see that Maggiorana had a piercing in his right one, a little curved barbell. Was that the reason Maggiorana wore his hat so low, Zenigata wondered.

Zenigata sputtered for a moment. This wasn't part of what he had planned. The tough front that the suit provided was lost. This person knew him and he could no longer pretend to be Mr. Jonquil out for a well deserved night on the town. Though that little voice reminded him that Mr. Jonquil wouldn't go out without his lover Mr. Lupine. He was getting sick of the little voice being right all the time. 

"Sub-Inspector." He almost saluted but remembered where he was. "G-good evening." It was all Zenigata could think of to say.

"Holy shit," Maggiorana said as he closed the distance to stand beside Zenigata. His nose was a little red and judging by the empty pint glass in his hand, Zenigata could guess that this time it wasn't caused by any pollen allergy. "You are the last person I expected to see here."

It was a bright, pleased comment. Maggiorana turned to catch the eye of a bartender, first lifting his empty glass and then also pointing at Zenigata's drink and holding up two fingers as a sign he would get the next round. As he leaned over the bar, Zenigata couldn't help but see the wide zipper on Maggiorana's pants continued up the back, bisecting and accentuating the globes of his firm round ass. Those pants were incredibly tight. The only thing Zenigata could think to do, other than run out the door at top speed, was to take a deep burning gulp of his drink. 

"I wasn't exactly planning to see anyone I knew here either." he said. He couldn't help his eyes from traveling over the enticing image that was Maggiorana in that scandalous outfit. Maggiorana glanced back over his shoulder with a knowing look that said he understood something Zenigata wasn't actually hinting at. He turned to Zenigata and while he certainly didn't devour Zenigata's form, he took it in fully and by the expression on his face, approved of what he saw.

"Well, I hope I'm not cramping your style." His accent caused him to drop the H in 'hope'. Maggiorana smirked and it was the first time Zenigata had seen him do it. Zenigata knocked back the rest of his drink. This was definitely flirting. He placed his glass on the bar and turned back to Maggiorana with a sheepish half smile. 

"I think I'm cramping my own style." he leaned into the younger man so he could hear better over the music. "It looks like I wore too much."

"I like it. It's got this power top thing going on. If nothing else it makes you stand out." Maggiorana said with an air of accepting pragmatism. He hung his head a moment, chuckling sweetly. Zenigata could tell by the bonelessness of the move, Maggiorana was a little tipsy. He looked back up at Zenigata, his smile blinding "Forgive me, but I had no idea you were gay.",

'Power top' was definitely a new phrase for Zenigata but it didn't sound like it came with negative connotations so he'd take it. 

"I... Um... Try not to combine my personal and professional life." That smile was enough to undo him. The drinks came and Maggiorana picked up Zenigata's, offering it to him. With his other hand, he sipped his beer.

"What I mean is you don't give off the vibe." Maggiorana said. "But I'm not complaining. Lucky me."

"Lucky you?" Zenigata asked as he took the drink. Their fingers brushed. It felt nice.

"I thought you were cute when I first saw you." Maggiorana explained. He took another sip of his drink. "I was right. Especially when you aren't swimming in that trenchcoat."

Zenigata blushed. "Um... Thank you." he answered. He took another sip of his drink. He was starting to feel a bit drunk. "I can't say I didn't notice you either. You shouldn't wear your hat so low over that handsome face."

Maggiorana laughed and leaned a little closer to Zenigata.

"You are so cute!" He repeated and Zenigata felt like he wasn't talking about his looks this time. He was clearly charmed. Maggiorana touched Zenigata's forearm and it remained there, feeling the wool of his jacket sleeve. Looking down at the hand on his arm, Zenigata smiled. It made him feel confident. 

"You think I'm cute, huh?" he leaned in closer. They were almost touching now. He gave Maggiorana a pointed look as he slipped his drink.

"I said it, didn't I?" Maggiorana's left a little faux cattiness in his tone. "I'm not on the clock, so I can say whatever I want."

He sipped his beer and it knocked the edge of Zenigata's glass as he lowered it. The clink of it was lost to the volume of the music.

"Or is this mixing your personal and professional lives? I don't see the problem in it myself. We're never going to see each other again once this whole Lupin thing blows over. But I could go if you want."

Maggiorana's body language said he had no intention of leaving. It was a teasing little invitation to be validated by the other man. In that moment Zenigata made a decision. He slid one arm around Maggiorana's waist and pulled him a little closer. 

"For you, I'll make an exception." He said with a little smile. He sipped his drink. Maggiorana was right. Eventually, Lupin would get bored and move on. For all Zenigata knew he'd moved on already. It was better to get mixed up with someone he knew anyway. It would be safer in the end.

"Oh?" It was a lilting sound of surprise and delight. He leaned into the touch of Zenigata's hand on his hip. "You make me feel so special. I promise I'm a lot more fun outside of work."

"To be honest I don't think we've talked this much at work, Maggiorana." Zenigata chuckled. He flexed his hand against the leather encased hip. This was amazing.

"Call me Brosi." It was musical said in Maggiorana's accent and, backed by the hard bass beats of the music and the look in the man's eyes, was positively obscene. He nonchalantly placed his hand over Zenigata's and rested it there. Zenigata smirked. 

"Well Brosi, do you wanna dance or do you want to just talk for a bit. Whatever we do tonight won't have anything to do with work tomorrow." he finished his drink. If he was willing to dance, he was definitely drunk.

"Whatever we do?" Maggiorana wore a look that was more coquettish than Zenigata thought a man could be. He guided Zenigata's hand around to his firm behind. His work done, Maggiorana picked up his beer and drank. The fingers of his other hand brushed the underside of Zenigata's blue necktie. He didn't clutch, just stroked softly. 

This was a very unexpected turn of events. Zenigata had expected some dancing, maybe some kissing but the look in Maggiorana's eyes said he wanted more. His first instinct was to pull away. It was all too much, too fast. He didn't though. The inspector's mind rationalized all this. Maggiorana looked like Lupin in this dark club. He'd look like Lupin back at his apartment if they kept the lights low. Zenigata could leave after or in the morning before the sun came up and cast its bright light on the choices he'd made. If he did this, if he got it out of his system, maybe he could move on. He could get over the mean, awful prank Lupin was playing on him. He could focus on catching Lupin and bringing him to justice. Not obsessing over flowers and notes like some high school girl.

Looking into the other man's eyes, Zenigata tightened his grip on the leather-covered flesh in his hand. The metal zipper dug into the pad of his thumb. 

"If that's what you want, Brosi." He said in a low breathless voice. Maggiorana reacted to the squeeze with a low sigh and laugh.

"Oh, I want." He assured Zenigata. Now he gently closed his hand around Zenigata's tie and came in just that much closer. "Have you ever had an Italian lover, Inspector? We put the French to shame. Especially the Venetians. Casanova was a Venetian. Did you know that?"

French. Lupin was part French. There was that obnoxious little voice again. Zenigata pushed it aside. 

"I didn't. I've only had Japanese lovers before. It would be good to try something new."

"And I've never been fucked by a Japanese guy." Maggiorana trailed off a moment before his devilish look returned. He quirked an eyebrow playfully and his piercing shifted. "Won't be the first time with a guy who outranks me though."

That left a bad taste in Zenigata's mouth. He didn't think that a sub-inspector should sleep his way to his position but that wasn't what he should focus on now, he told himself. He thought of what Maggiorana would look like naked and under him. How he could make him moan. Every time he morphed into Lupin. But what did Zenigata care? It was only a fling. That's all the other man wanted too.

"I hope I can be a good first for you. I've never had any complaints." He leaned into the slightly shorter man and rumbled the words into his ear. "We may not have any famous lovers but in Japan we know about sensuality."

Zenigata felt Maggiorana tense under his hands.

"Jesus Christ..." The Italian whispered in a half embarrassed snicker. That deep voice and warmth of breath on his ear had really affected him. Maggiorana turned Zenigata to face him fully with an insistent hand on his bicep, his beer long forgotten on the bar, and closed the distance, bringing them chest to chest. He looked into Zenigata's face, a daring provocation painting his features.

"Lucky me. Lucky, lucky me..." He added, both an act of thinking out loud and a bold declaration of his conquest to be. Zenigata could feel how he had worked up Maggiorana. His hardness was pressed against the inspector's thigh and it was having a similar effect on Zenigata. He was actually pretty surprised he could do that. 

The older man wasn't entirely sure where all this confidence was coming from but it was intoxicating. It could have been the suit. It could have been the drinks. It was most possibly the fact he wanted to say all these things to Lupin but this young man had offered himself as a safer conduit. He didn't know but for once he was just going to feel. 

"Your place? Or my hotel?" Zenigata said after a moment. He pressed his hips forward and let the other man feel his hardness.

"You think I can wait? This place has got a playroom in back. Come on, CARO..." The Italian pet name rolled off Maggiorana's tongue with dark almost mewling need. He let go of Zenigata's tie and hooked Zenigata at the nape of the neck, pulling him in for an open-mouthed kiss.

Zenigata was going to protest. A back room in a club like that had to be disgusting. It wasn't dignified. He really was going to protest but then he was being kissed. He could taste the bitter hops of the beer on the younger man's tongue and his full lips fit well against Zenigata's. When Maggiorana pulled away, Zenigata was breathless.

"Lead the way, Brosi."

Maggiorana took his hand. He began to pull Zenigata away from the bar with sure steps. They moved slowly through the undulating bodies on the dance floor and Maggiorana placed Zenigata's hands on his hips to lead him without losing him in the crowd. He occasionally looked over his shoulder at the inspector, winking or smiling in a mischievous way. In the dizzying bedazzling lights all Zenigata could see in those brief flashes of profile was Lupin illuminated by Ferragosto fireworks.

BUT IT'S NOT LUPIN. That awful little voice was back. Lupin would be wearing a suit, not this little get up. Lupin would have wanted to go to a nice hotel or at least someplace that wasn't a back room. Zenigata shook the thoughts away and held tighter to Maggiorana's hips. He wasn't going to hold back anymore. 

They passed through the crowd and Zenigata could see a red door against the wall. This was it. His heart was pounding. Maggiorana all but barreled through the door into a cramped hallway lined with more red doors. Blue and red lighting cast the room in a moody atmosphere. Zenigata could feel more than hear the muffled base beat of the dance music outside. He was more aware of the unmistakable noises of lust coming from a number of closed rooms. Some of the doors were open and empty. Some of the doors were open and not. 

Zenigata pulled away. Another moment of doubt gripped him but then Maggiorana turned to look back at him. In the dark, he looked like Lupin. Zenigata grabbed the other man's hand and pulled him back, shoving him up against the wall. If he could just push forward. If he just lost himself in the lust and the flesh he could do it. He kissed Maggiorana passionately, pressing his body flush to the other form. He closed his eyes and imagined it was Lupin. He finally had him.

Maggiorana bucked against the man holding him, hips rolling wantonly and grinding their clothed crotches together. He pawed and pulled at Zenigata's suit. His hands ran down the lapels and underneath the hem of the coat to pull Zenigata that much closer.

"Fuck!" He ground out against Zenigata's lips with a panting laugh. "You just gonna do me right out here? You're so bad, Papi..."

The tone in his voice said that if Zenigata planned to do just that, Maggiorana might let him. Zenigata kissed the other man hard to stop him from talking then pulled away slightly, panting for breath. 

"Call me Pops." He whispered against those plush lips before kissing him again. With his eyes closed, it could work. Though the hot leather under his hands felt wrong, it would be gone soon. He gripped both globes of Maggiorana's ass cheeks as they kissed. Maggiorana giggled against Zenigata's lips but it was coy and somehow insincere. It was missing an all important quality that Zenigata couldn't name but knew by instinct.

"Oo, yeah Pops!" Maggiorana cried between kisses. He was playing it up and Zenigata could sense it. The Italian's hands traveled down and he squeezed Zenigata's package softly before beginning to work open his belt.

"Ah!" Zenigata moaned into Maggiorana's mouth. He tilted his head back, one hand coming up to brush over the short hair and guide the other man's mouth to his throat. Maggiorana let himself be handled but as Zenigata shifted, the flowers in his buttonhole brushed against Maggiorana cheek. The officer's body went rigid and a moment later was seized with a large sneeze. His face pitched into Zenigata's chest and with the flower still so close, Maggiorana was wracked with a second sneeze.

"Sorry." He said. It was clear his embarrassment was an afterthought and after only a moment to collect himself, began to fumble with Zenigata's belt once again.

"No, wait." Zenigata grabbed Maggiorana's wrists. The sneeze had pulled him back. The very flowers that Lupin had given him were his reminder of what he really wanted. This wasn't Lupin. It would never be Lupin. He would regret this in the morning and he'd never be able to forgive himself for it. "I can't. I'm sorry. I can't."

Maggiorana looked floored and dismayed. He expression morphed into something coaxing.

"Sure you can, my Pops." He purred. He went to open Zenigata's pants, looking up into the man's face as if nothing had changed. Zenigata stepped back. 

"No. I can't." he said and he was blushing and looking sheepish. He was himself again. Silly old pops. Couldn't catch a break. Maggiorana seemed less playful now.

"What? Is it about what I said about sleeping with my superior earlier? Like no one in Japan was ever too good to suck dick for a star..." Maggiorana shrugged an imaginary epaulet on his shoulder. It was a lewd attempt at humor to tempt Zenigata back to his side but it was also noticeably defensive. Zenigata remembered Maggiorana's veiled comment about bratty attitude at the jewelry store and decided if this shameless crude stance was what he meant, this man did not know Lupin at all.

"That's not it. It's... There's... Someone else." Zenigata stuttered. He looked at the floor with a guilty look on his face. "I came here to forget about him. I didn't mean to have it go this far. It's not fair to you because I'm thinking of him."

The spell seemed to have worn off Maggiorana too with those words. He huffed a hard sighed and made a face that might have been a pout on anyone else.

"It figures. You types are always taken. Even when you're trying for a one night stand." Clearly, Maggiorana had no sympathy for Zenigata in that moment. Something occurred to him and he scoffed a bitter little laugh. "Only person as devoted as you is your Lupin. Wish I knew the secret to bagging one like him."

A soft sad laugh slipped past Zenigata's lips. "I wish I knew too." He said softly. He fixed his belt then gave Maggiorana one more sympathetic look. "Wish I wasn't so devoted cause you're a knockout, Brosi." 

He smiled and started for the door. Maggiorana made a disdainful little 'tsk' sound through his teeth. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, still glowering.

"Spare me. You older men are usually all the same. Give them a finger, they take an arm! That I can deal with. It's when you start trying to treat me right and take the high road that I get lost." He called after him. It was catty but resigned. Zenigata paused at the door then looked back at Maggiorana.

"When you find him he'll be a lucky man." He said. He turned to the door. Maggiorana rolled his eyes. He'd heard that one before.

"I won't mention this at work. You do the same." He added. There was a callous edge in his voice that said it was not an act of kindness but a warning that Zenigata better not out him. It felt half-hearted, more a ploy for attention than an actual threat. When Zenigata didn't turn back to him he added in a more curious if not just as impudent tone: "Who is he? Does he have a brother?"

Zenigata smiled. "Sorry. He's one of a kind." he said before slipping out the door. He left the club and headed back to the hotel.


	5. Chapter 5

Zenigata slipped into the hotel room and rested against the closed door. His head hurt from all the liquor and he was still half hard in his trousers. With exhausted movements, he walked to the bed and collapsed backward onto it. He could see the jonquil and lupine in his buttonhole and he groaned softly. 

"Damn Lupin." He should just touch himself and go to bed. Knowing his luck he'd have to face Maggiorana in the morning as they stood at the foot of a flower mountain.

Zenigata rolled over, pressing his face into the pillow. He was full of embarrassment and shame for acting so weakly and honestly felt ready to fall apart at the seams. Then he smelled it. The strong bewitching scent of jasmine. Zenigata sat bolt upright hoping it was just his imagination playing tricks on his addled, frustrated mind.

The French doors of the balcony were opened to the night air letting light from the moon and the streetlights into the otherwise dark hotel room. Standing just in the doorway, was the unmistakable shape of Lupin the Third. His form was highlighted on one side by the outside light, cutting his silhouette out of the darkness. One ankle was crossed over the other and he leaned a shoulder into the doorframe. One hand was tucked into his pocket and in his other hand, he held a bouquet wrapped in paper and tied with a loose pink ribbon. He rested it against the front of his shoulder casually and it completed the posture of a bon vivant.

The night breeze came in off the ocean and rustled the curtains. It brought movement to Lupin's otherwise still form as it made the ankles of Lupin's pants and hem and collar of his blue coat rustle. The delicate leaves and smaller blossoms of the bouquet swayed, filling the room with the sweetness of their fragrance.

Despite the dimness, Zenigata could see the thief's eyes, all but glowing with their placid depth like a nocturnal animal as they watched him. The sweetest smile touched his lips. The tension was set to snap.

Zenigata held his breath. His first instinct was to grab his cuffs and leap at Lupin. Now, under these new and odd circumstances, he was almost scared to go near the younger man. Drunk and turned on as he was, Zenigata doubted this was happening for a moment but the scent of flowers and the look in Lupin's eyes made it clear that it was.

"What are you doing here?" He asked quietly. His voice was almost defeated. Lupin seemed undeterred by Zenigata's tone.

"I came here to congratulate you on your success in the Rosebay case. And to see how you liked your welcome back gifts." He said. It was conversational but reserved. Cool and collected in the ambiance of the quiet room. Lupin had not been expecting to see Zenigata in his grey suit and a little thrill ran up his spine.

"Welcome back gifts!?" Zenigata jumped up from the bed. He took a few steps towards Lupin and stopped. He could smell the other man's cologne and it was making him feel heady. "You made a fool out of me! All those flowers! The damn notes! What the hell do you think you were welcoming me back from?"

"Why, our time apart of course." Lupin answered. Lupin seemed suddenly dismayed by Zenigata's attitude. He had seen the man in a tizzy before, countless times, but this seemed deeper than mere vexation. Lupin pushed himself to stand and tilted his head a little. "You're back on the Lupin taskforce. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Zenigata blinked long lashed eyes in complete surprise. 

"Time apart." He repeated the words as if he didn't understand Lupin. The way he said it sounded like they were lovers who had been separated by work or some other obligation. He shook it off and remembered to be angry. "Of course! My life's work is to bring you to justice. But those notes were too damn much, Lupin." He stomped over to his desk and snatched up the legal pad. "To my bodyguard! Thank God I figured out how to erase some of the recording so it wouldn't be traced back to me. What were those messages about?" Zenigata read from the page and his voice was nearly hysterical. "'With longing.' Yeah, longing to steal expensive vases and leave another in its place! 'With admiration.' I can't imagine anyone admiring me after this stunt you pulled!" he paused as he read the last one to himself first. Then in a much more measured but dark voice, he said "'With love'..." Zenigata looked Lupin right in the eye. "what kinda game do you think you're playing?"

Lupin sagged visibly, arms hanging at his side. The bouquet dangled from his hand and he really did look the picture of confusion.

"Aw, Pops, I didn't think that-" Lupin began with a concerned perplexity then hesitated "I didn't mean to get you so upset. That wasn't my intention. I know I play a lot but this time I wasn't trying to, honest."

A light bulb all but flashed above Lupin's head. His face screwed up in a smile and he began to laugh. He slapped a hand across his forehead.

"Oh my gosh, you really didn't figure it out, did you!? I figured I gave a blatant enough hint. You've never heard about Victorian flower language? Jeez, pops you're definitely no romantic..."

It was a good-natured laugh that tinkled like bells. It sounded like Lupin was genuinely charmed by Zenigata's naivety. Zenigata's thick eyebrows came together in consternation. 

"What in all our years together makes you think I know Victorian flower whatever? I was looking for codes."

Lupin tucked his thumbs into his pockets. The bouquet sat in the crook between his arm and hip. He hung his head and gave a gratifying smile.

"Of course you were." He said. He looked at Zenigata and there was an affection in his eyes that was disarming. Lupin fixed his stance, almost snapping to attention like he had important information he was being as asked to impart. "The art of giving flowers is just that. Each one has a different and unique meaning that must be chosen with special attention. There's a story that can be told without a single word. Any gentleman worth his salt has to take that into account and I am nothing if not a gentleman."

Tossing the pad onto the desk he regarded Lupin with a slight smile. 

"And you think I'M a gentleman? Hmph. You wouldn't with the things I've been thinking lately." The inspector shook his head and turned away. "Just when I think I know ya, Lupin, ya throw me these curve balls. I'll never understand." He looked over the messy expanse of his desk. He had had no clue. He'd looked in all the wrong places and now he stood here talking to his nemesis. He was supposed to be angry but he couldn't even stay that way with Lupin.

Lupin noted the comment about Zenigata's thoughts as of late but didn't pry, as much as he wanted to. Instead, he watched Zenigata's turned form, appreciating the broadness of his shoulder and the strong lines of his frame, even slumped in such a defeated posture.

"What fun would life be without a few curve balls now and then? I like to keep you on your toes after all." Lupin offered.

"They aren't fun when you're my age." he grumbled as he looked back over his shoulder at Lupin. "You do keep me on my toes though."

Lupin was pleased by that small admission. He rocked on his heels a little.

"No one else can keep up with me like you do. Honestly, I wouldn't want it any other way." He agreed. He made a thoughtful sound as if something amusing had just occurred to him and he looked up at the ceiling in content reflection. 

"Hm. Apple scented geranium..." He seemed to recall. Zenigata quirked one eyebrow as he turned to look more fully look at Lupin.

"That wasn't one of the flowers you left. There was a dark geranium when you lifted the vase though." After weeks he knew every flower by heart in that first room. Zenigata had joked to himself more times than he could count that if this was the end of his career he could become a florist at least. Lupin looked as if he had been caught in his reverie and was both abashed and boyishly proud.

"No," he clarified "They're not the same. I was just thinking. Apple scented geranium means preferring the present situation." Lupin looked at Zenigata with meaningful kindness. With a blush, Zenigata looked away. 

"What's so great about the present situation?" He grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I get to see you." It was a simple and forthright answer, given without hesitation. That prompted a wide-eyed stare from Zenigata.

"Well... Well..." he couldn't think of anything to say. It was literally the last thing he had expected to come out of Lupin's mouth. He wanted a cigarette but he knew they were in his trench coat pocket and he just couldn't bring himself to go dig it out of the closet. "Well don't like it too much. I might come to my senses and finally arrest you."

Lupin was amused by Zenigata being ever true to form. He shifted his weight and stuck out his hip. His eyes were filled with a calm and knowing quality. He wanted to step into the room but didn't dare for fear of spooking Zenigata. Instead, Lupin stood there in the balcony's open doorway, legs set apart slightly and that bunch of flowers under his arm feeling like Romeo far below in the Capulet's orchard.

"Before you do, could I at least explain what the flowers were trying to tell you?" Lupin asked. It was an oddly honest request, almost as if were Zenigata to allow it, Lupin would come willingly. 

"You've always known how to get my attention." Zenigata said after a moment. Lupin's body language was different than he was used to seeing it. It was calm if not playful but that was Lupin's natural state. There was something that was asking permission in it though. "I'll go nuts if I don't find out. It's probably better for the both of us if you just tell me."

That was all Lupin needed, it seemed. Lupin puffed up proudly, his stage set.

"It's quite a story they have to tell and they have chosen me as their emissary." He said with a touch of bravado in his tone. "A tale of the humble thief and the knight errant charged with his capture."

"Oh boy." Zenigata said with a touch of humor. He smiled and it was soft. "Should I sit down?"

"Please, hold all questions." Lupin waved a hand at Zenigata in a play at dismissal. His movements became animated as he fell back into character.

"The sweet pea marks the departure of the knight errant. He has been sent away to fight a horrid monster that has been gobbling up princesses and the humble thief has been left behind. At first it was wonderful! The thief was free to go about his crimes unhindered." Lupin broke from his story to toss out "Tamarisk is the flower of crimes."

Lupin pressed a hand to his cheek and looked down and away.

"But soon the zinnia reminded the thief of the absence of his friends. The wormwood echoed a deeper absence. That of the knight. The thief was nothing without the knight who gave chase and filled the thief with a zest for his capers and truly for life itself! The thief was all alone save for the dark geranium of melancholy. The yew shaded him in his sorrow and even the sunny marigold couldn't dissuade his grief. What was the thief to do?"

Lupin folded his hands together, fingers laced and he brought them up to his chest in a pose of acute fretfulness. The bouquet swung around but did not fall, instead nestling in the crook of Lupin's arm as if it were the prop in a well-practiced juggling trick. Zenigata smiled at the antics. This childlike storytelling was cute. That sobered Zenigata a bit. He shouldn't think of Lupin as cute. He forced himself to scowl. 

"I should have sat down."

Lupin continued on undiscouraged. He snapped up the bouquet and took up a fencer's stance, the bundle of flowers serving as his foil. He jabbed at an imaginary foe.

"The humble thief made a decision then and there. He would fight shoulder to shoulder with the knight in the lair of the beast! From there he could resume his life with his noble adversary." Lupin rested the bouquet on his shoulder and smiled at Zenigata warmly. "That's the amaranth. They call it love lies bleeding, you know. It's for the hopeless but not yet heartless."

"So you got bored." The inspector groused. He leaned back against the table. His arms still crossed over his chest. "You didn't have your little friends to play with or me to chase you so you had to make your own fun."

"Well that's certainly a cold way to look at it." Lupin puffed out his cheeks in a pout, his narrative derailed for the moment. Zenigata actually felt a little bad for his harsh assessment. He gave Lupin an apologetic look. 

"Well... What else could it be? Just get on with your story. That's all the flowers in the first crime scene."

The wind picked back up into Lupin's sails after a moment.

"You're absolutely correct, inspector, because that's only the first chapter of this tale." Lupin announced. He continued his story, with less grandiosity than before but with no less passion. It was softer but still as intense as he lowered his head in a way that looked as if he were recalling a very old legend. He closed his eyes in thought.

"The two were victorious, but in their victory they were forced to retreat back to their own sides of the law. But even though they were enemies once again, the thief could not banish the knight from his mind. Day and night, the knight's ambition like persistent reaching blooms of hollyhock, remained rooted in his mind. The purple pansies whispered the words the thief longed to tell the noble knight," Lupin opened his eyes and pinned Zenigata down with his gaze. "'You occupy my thoughts'."

Zenigata held his breath. He stood up more straight. His arms loosened and dropped to the side. "Lupin. What? I don't understand."

Lupin did not break eye contact. It was unapologetic and hid nothing. He pushed forward like Zenigata hadn't said anything.

"The thief had held these feelings for a very long time but absence had made his heart grow fonder and witnessing the knight's slaying of the princess eating monster had reignited the flame in the heart of the thief and filled him with new resolve. Columbine." Lupin added the last word as if he had nearly forgotten what the purpose of the story was. He stood his ground and spoke almost as if he were accusing Zenigata of something. "The thief admired the knight. His gallantry sweet as sweet william and his chivalry sharp and swift like the poison of wolf's bane. Beyond that, the knight had a mature charm and an unconscious beauty that made cattelya orchids and burgundy roses wilt in comparison. The thief was amazed at how deeply his emotions ran. What could this be, winding its way to the thief like the sweet scent of lilac on a summer wind? Could it be the first emotions of love?"

Zenigata stepped forward. 

"Lupin?" There was no way the younger man meant that. Lupin couldn't love him. This was a game. This was a trap.

Lupin found himself emboldened now. The word had escaped his lips and any nervous worry that had been picking at his confident facade faded away. All that remained was ecstatic relief to have said it and see the world had not ended.

"Yes, it was his secret and untold love which the thief confided in no one but gardenia and acacia. He had been consumed by love! Bonds of pure and ardent love! Everlasting and eternal love! Mallow, honeysuckle, dianthus! Yarrow and heliotrope and chrysanthemum!" Lupin cheered, outstretching his arms triumphantly. His voice bounced off the buildings as he whooped a moment longer and he spun on his heel out on the balcony. He beamed at Zenigata and held up his hand to still him from word or action. He came to the climax of his story with quiet excitement.

"Knowing not what else to do, the thief turned to the flowers. Crimson polyanthus knew the mysteries of his heart and the red tulip urged him to make his confession! The morning glory promised to play its ruby horn and sing of the thief's sweet attachment. The white rose and her sister white carnation would tell the knight of how his purity had endeared himself to the thief and his adoration would be delivered by sunflower and little pink rose. The cabbage rose bade the thief to become the ambassador of love and in the face of such beauty, he could not refuse!"

Zenigata stepped onto the balcony. One fist grabbed the blue lapel of Lupin's coat. The banging of his heart was almost all he could hear in that moment. He pulled the other man closer and looked down at him. 

"No more stories. No more games. I can't -" He broke off. His eyes were wild and searching and hurt as they scanned Lupin's face, trying to find out why the younger man would play this kind of joke on him. "For once in my life, I don't know what to expect from you. Is my phone gonna ring tomorrow and I'll have to face Maggiorana in an airplane hanger full of flowers?"

Lupin let Zenigata manhandle him. He looked back into Zenigata's face, calm and serene under the man's scrutiny.

"Afraid not. Couldn't afford something that big. You see, I used that little stack of bearer bonds from Rosebay's desk to buy the first arrangement in the museum. From there, each job has funded the next. I told you no gifts I give you are stolen." He explained. His tone was bright and warm if not low like a candle flame in a still room.

"What about the gallery?" Zenigata asked. He hadn't let go of Lupin but he had loosened his grip a little. "You cleaned that place out. They were still calculating how much it was all worth."

"There isn't a cent of it left." Lupin sighed it in an easy come, easy go kind of way but Zenigata could see he was proud of himself. "There's a very talented tailor on the far side of town who will be waking up to a generous tip twenty years overdue. All I kept was enough for this last bouquet."

Lupin lifted the paper wrapped batch of blossoms. The bouquet was a collection of lush pinks and whites. Most of the flowers were small and delicate but they gathered together in fetching bundles. The larger blooms stood out like silken fireworks. And in the middle was a single jonquil and stem of blue lupine.

The comparison between Lupin and Robin Hood popped into Zenigata's head. He let go of Lupin's jacket. He wanted to sag against the other man. Just lean into him. He knew that if he leaned against Lupin the other man would hold him. Those long arms would go around him and he'd be supported. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't give himself over to that. His eyes shifted to the bouquet and he swallowed hard. "And what are these saying?"

Lupin's smile was blissful. Those were the words he wanted to here. 

"They say everything I've been waiting to tell you and what it's going to take to make my final heist tonight." He said softly. Zenigata rolled his eyes. At least this felt more like normal. 

"And what exactly are you planning on stealing this time? You already steal it or are you headed there after your done with your little joke?"

Lupin hung his head, smiling bashfully. He spoke like he was back to telling stories only now it was entirely without its earlier bluster. That had been replaced by a gentle intimacy.

"Tonight I take a treasure that no one has ever even seen before. Held under lock and key, behind the highest walls and protected by the strongest, bravest man I've ever met. Pops..." Lupin lifted his head and looked deeply into Zenigata's eyes. "I'm going to steal your heart."

Zenigata stepped back and he looked at Lupin in pure surprise. The inspector knew what he should do. He should handcuff the man and call the station or, out of spite, shove him over the railing and down into the canals below them. He also wanted to take Lupin into his arms and kiss him the way he had kissed Maggiorana less than an hour ago. He did none of those things. 

"Why?" He said after a moment. "Why do you want me? I've heard you said the same thing to Rebecca Rossellini. I'll bet you said it to Fujiko too. I'm not like them. I'm not rich. I'm not anyone's wildest dream." He looked over Lupin. He knew when the other man was lying and this was Lupin at his most earnest. "I can't believe this isn't a trick or some awful joke. But... I hope it's not."

Lupin reached out his hand, mourning the loss of touch as rough as it was. For a moment there was genuine panic in his eyes, but Lupin beat it back.

"It's not. I promise." Lupin defended. He dropped his hand and his eyes shifted from side to side as if planning an escape. Again Lupin gathered himself. "Listen. The reason I'm saying all this is because you aren't like them. You're you! And that's even better in my book. You know me better than anyone in this whole crazy, mixed up world and...damn, I wish this was easier."

Lupin scrubbed a hand through his hair in consternation. He gave a short grounding huff of air through his nose.

"There's a lot of things I want to say to you. Honestly, I'm usually pretty good at this sort of thing. But you do something to me that no one ever has been able to do. So I figured if I can't speak," Lupin lifted the bouquet in both hands in a type of timid peace offering. "Let them do the talking for me, ok?"

Lupin waited tensely for the inspector's response. Zenigata felt miles away to Lupin, those two shorts steps separating them. It took Zenigata a moment to decide what he wanted to do. A small laugh slipped past his lips. He'd never seen Lupin like this before. There was something reassuring to see this prince of thieves like this. He slowly closed the distance between them. His hands came up and cradled one of the other man's as they held the flowers. He smiled just slightly. 

"Tell me what the damn flowers wanna say." He said with some humor but also very tired. Lupin was emboldened. He took Zenigata's hand in his own. It made him think of the way they touched in the darkness of study, the microphone flower clutched in Zenigata's strong hand. Lupin guided Zenigata to touch each flower as he described them. He started with a fist size blossom made up of ruffles of paper thin coral petals.

"Ranunculus. 'I am dazzled by your charms'." He said. Lupin did not look away as he moved the inspector's touch to a daisy like flower with narrow white petals "Ice plant. 'Your looks freeze me'."

Not daring to interrupt, Zenigata let his hand be led. They were so close again, their foreheads nearly brushing as they stood on that balcony. His eyes flickered between the flowers and Lupin's own. Zenigata felt his fingers trail up a thin delicate branch studded with speckled pink flowers in pairs and trios.

"Peach blossoms. 'I am your captive.' Lupin held down a little impish chuckle at that. The sound made Zenigata shiver. 

"Only when you've wanted to be." Zenigata gave a chuckle of his own. It was warm and rich. He remembered Rio and shook his head as he smiled. Lupin returned the smile and it sparkled in the streetlights. The next flower reminded Zenigata of a large buttercup but white with pastel pink edges.

"Primrose. 'I can't live without you.'" Lupin's eye contact did falter then. The honesty of the words hit him a little harder than he had expected. Before he knew he was doing it, Zenigata's free hand came up to cup Lupin's waist. He pulled him ever so gently forward so there was little between them but the flowers. 

"Keep going." He said softly. Lupin did feel captured then with the familiar clutch of the heavy hand on him. But it was a touch so different from those that came before, if not in action than certainly in intent. It made the thief, who was bigger and smarter than everything else, feel beautifully small like the man touching him was the only one who could see him. He focused his attention on the remaining flowers.

Lupin touched Zenigata's hand to delicate sprays of little ivory blooms and over cascading bevies of pale pink petals layered like dragon scales with lavender coronas.

"There's Spanish jasmine for sensuality, cretan dittany for passion," Lupin drew Zenigata's fingertips along an elongated stalk of tiny waxy flowers in ivory and watermelon pink. "And tuberose for dangerous pleasure."

That final one was said with a bit of daring boldness.

Looking into Lupin's eyes Zenigata expected to see the same lust filled looks that Maggiorana had given him in the club. It wasn't even like the way Lupin looked at Fujiko or Rebecca. The wanting was there but this was deeper than lust. There was heart and depth there too. He nodded his head for Lupin to go on. Their foreheads brushed and it felt good.

"And then," Lupin bought Zenigata's hand to rest on the velvet petals of the lupine and jonquil at the bouquet's center. "There's these little beauties."

Lupin released Zenigata's hand and took Zenigata's lapel. He ran the cloth between his fingers as they journeyed up to brush the twin flowers Zenigata had pinned there. The flowers that had saved him in the club earlier.

"And what do those say?" He asked as his fingertips brushed the soft blue petals of the lupine.

"The lupine is my flower." Lupin recited with a bit of that loftiness that he was always unable to tamp down when speaking of himself. "It's imagination and voracious hunger."

Zenigata huffed a laugh. "It fits you. What about my jonquil?"

"That is the most important of all. Jonquil is for chivalry. Also...unrequited love and a plea for that love to be returned." Lupin explained. He was striving to keep his tone light and playful but a husky kind of rasp worked it way in on the tail end of the thought. He lingered only a moment when he felt the rush of breath on his face with Zenigata's sharp inhale.

Lupin quickly stepped back, breaking the near embrace. He regarded Zenigata like an expectant soldier awaiting inspection by his commanding officer. His smile was boyish and sprightly. Lupin cut a wide slow arc through the air with the bouquet bringing it around across his body in the bow of a gentleman. At that moment it was he who looked like a knight errant.

"And with that, I offer you these flowers in hopes that my plea goes answered." He said. He straightened and held out the paper wrapped bundle to Zenigata. His expression asked for nothing, only an honest reply. Zenigata took the bouquet and looked them over once more. He went over all their names and meanings so he wouldn't ever forget. Then he looked up at Lupin, his expression neutral. 

"I don't want your stupid flowers, you showboat." He said after a moment. Lupin was visibly upset. His breath caught in his throat with an audible click and his eyes went hard with something that could have been hurt or embarrassment. Zenigata stepped forward and Lupin stepped back, his retreat halted by the railing of the balcony. One of the inspector's big hands came up and cupped the tight set jaw of the younger man to tilt his face up to better see his expression. The hurt was almost palpable and Zenigata hated himself for making Lupin look that way for even a moment. 

"I want you." He added before he brought their lips together. It was soft and sweet and his long fingers caressed the base of Lupin's skull as if to banish any thought that Zenigata had even for a moment not wanted this man.

Lupin's eyes went wide for a second, utterly surprised despite this being the exact outcome he had hoped for. A warmth radiated from inside him and it felt like a bomb detonating. Lupin's eyes fluttered closed and he let himself be kissed. It was funny how he had shown up that evening looking to be the seductor and now he found himself, knees weak, leaning against the balcony railing for support in Zenigata's kiss.

The arm holding the bouquet wrapped around Lupin's waist to pull him closer but even that didn't seem like enough. The bouquet slipped from Zenigata's fingers and as his hand spread against the small of Lupin's back the flowers tumbled into the canals below. They went falling, coming unwrapped from their paper and ribbon, to rain as individual stems down on the water to float away. Neither man noticed. 

Lupin slipped his arms around Zenigata, hands starting at his waist and then moving up to pass over his shoulder blades. Their chests touched and it was like completing an electrical circuit. Lupin's kiss was tender and slow, following Zenigata's lead. He had always been able to roll with the punches and opted to let the inspector set the pace. Slowly Zenigata opened his lips ever so slightly. He was elated as they deepened the kiss. His whole body thrummed as he finally tasted Lupin but he never hurried. He never wanted this to end and he had never known he'd wanted this. His thumb ran over Lupin's cheekbones. His eyes closed as he focused completely on the thief.

Lupin took the invitation and slipped his tongue out to brush Zenigata's own. It was a gentle move to test the waters. Lupin tasted the ghost of scotch on Zenigata's palette, an acidic top note to the inspector's own richer flavor. Zenigata slid his tongue more forcefully against Lupin's. It was still slow and measured. This wouldn't be a fast fling like what had happened in the bar. He wanted to savor every moment. With their situation, he wasn't sure they'd ever get the chance again. His body urged him on and he pulled away with panting breath to try and calm himself. He was blushing and still close enough to press their foreheads together and feel Lupin's breath ghosting his face. 

"I've been dreaming of this." He said breathlessly. "It's better than I could have imagined." There was a little chuckle in his voice and he looked into those dark warm eyes. Those words were like music to Lupin's ears and he breathed a stilted half chuckle at them.

"To be honest, I was really worried you were going to slug me. I'm used to those kinds of rejections." He joked. He didn't break eye contact but nodded his head towards the room. "Mind if I come in, Pops?"

That brought Zenigata back into the present. "Oh! Uh. Yeah. That'd probably be better." he stuttered as he reluctantly pulled away. It probably wasn't his best move to kiss Lupin out in the open. "Come on in. It ain't much but it's home for now."

"Just a place to hang your hat, huh? I know the feeling." Lupin replied and even though it was Zenigata who had invited him in, it was Lupin who took his hand and lead him into the room. He guided Zenigata to the bed and sat with him on the edge. He was holding both of Zenigata's hands in his now and they sat in their laps as Lupin turned in toward Zenigata. Their knees brushed. Lupin started slow by kissing Zenigata high on his defined cheekbone and working his way to the corner of the man's mouth. It was innocent in its way, not at all like the lecherous overzealous ways Zenigata had witnessed Lupin flirt and carry on with women in the past, flitting from one to the next like a honey bee in search of pollen. This didn't feel like lust. This felt deeper. He leaned into Lupin's touch, humming his appreciation for the affectionate brush of lips against his skin. 

"I'm not new to this. I mean, most of it." Zenigata confessed. He couldn't seem to stop blushing. "It's been a long while since I've wanted to be this close to someone." He squeezed the hand that was in his own, a replica of how he had squeezed Lupin's hand the night in the palazzo. Zenigata felt Lupin's lips twitch up into a smile against his skin. He tilted Zenigata's head with the light touch of his fingertips on Zenigata's chin. That gave Lupin access to the line of the inspector's strong jaw and the soft flesh of his throat.

"Well, well. Still waters run deep." Lupin teased. Zenigata's blush heated his skin and Lupin drank it up with measured sensuous kisses. "Hey, I'm no blushing virgin either. But you're calling the shots tonight, Pops. Whatever you want. Say the word and I'll do it."

"I want you to want it too." The older man said in a deep rumble. He returned any feather light kisses that came across his lips. "You may have to go slow or show me what to do sometimes." He felt a bit like a high school kid necking on the bed when they were supposed to be studying. His free hand slid up Lupin's arm. He squeezed his bicep and pulled him ever so slightly closer.

"There's no question, Pops. I want this. I want you." Lupin pressed his nose into the side of Zenigata's face, nuzzling his hairline, breathing in his scent. His laugh vibrated into Zenigata's skull. He moved to kissing Zenigata's temple and ear. His hand moved to trail over Zenigata's throat, down the knot of his silk tie (Zenigata had not been able to replicate Lupin's intricate Eldridge knot and had opted for his customary Windsor) to catch at the edge of the inspector's jacket. "We'll just take it one step at a time."

He pulled the smallest bit on the coat. He brushed his thumb along the expensive fabric before moving down to the buttons.

"This suit looks mighty fine on you, Pops. Almost a shame to take it off." Lupin purred in his ear. He brought his other hand up to begin twisting the buttons from their catches. As the buttons popped free Zenigata's heart thumped harder in his chest. Cautiously his hands came up and slowly untied the tie around Lupin's neck. 

"Kiss me." He whispered as he slid the tie free of the collar. He dropped the tie on the floor. Lupin left the jacket hanging open and his hands went to cup Zenigata's face. He gave Zenigata an unguarded look that was piercing and intense before pulling him in for a deep open mouthed kiss. He breathed in as Zenigata breathed out and it was like Lupin was stealing the inspector's very resolve with the slow burning fervor of it. His mouth worked against Zenigata's own sumptuously, taking his time to memorize the soft expanse of Zenigata's lips and tongue. When something like this was asked of Lupin he never went halfway. If Zenigata asked for a kiss, it would be a deep sensual soul kiss or it wouldn't be worth doing.

Lupin's touch traveled back down over Zenigata's neck. His thumbs touched as they ran over Zenigata's Adam's apple which bobbed when he swallowed hard. When he reached the inspector's shoulders he pulled the coat back and away. Zenigata's chest flared as he shifted to help Lupin remove it, causing him to press up against on Lupin's own. Lupin hummed a moan of satisfaction into Zenigata's mouth.

That moan was enough to undo Zenigata. He pulled his arms free of the jacket and wrapped his arms around Lupin's waist underneath his coat. Pulling the other man flush against him, he could feel the heat from the other's body and it was real and reassuring. He hadn't been sure how far he had wanted to go when this started but now he knew he needed it all if Lupin was willing to give it. While not releasing his entire hold on the young man, he undid each blue cuff link. They dropped to the bed and tumbled to the floor. Zenigata didn't care if he lost them. This was far more valuable.

Lupin's hands scrambled up Zenigata's back, the heat of his skin more intense through just the dress shirt. He ran his fingers through Zenigata's hair before moving to shrug his own coat away without breaking the kiss. He achieved it with some difficulty and undid the top button of his dress shirt before running his hand over Zenigata's cheek and cradling the nape of his neck. He leaned forward just enough to change the angle of Zenigata's head and deepen the kiss.

Soon Lupin's urging persisted and he gently laid Zenigata back across the bed. He ended the kiss and sat up to look at the man with a warm, but somehow hard to read expression on his face. His eyes were shimmering and half-lidded. He stared a moment. One of Zenigata's big hands came up to cradle the side of Lupin's face.

"What is it? Having second thoughts? I wouldn't blame ya after getting a good look at me." He said playfully. His thumb rubbed over the younger man's cheekbone. "We don't have to do anything if you don't want. I'm just glad we started... Whatever this is." His eyes were soft but still held that inquisitive look he always had when it came to Lupin.

Lupin closed his eyes and gave a laugh that was no more than a breath. He tilted his head into Zenigata's touch like a contented house cat and shook his head slightly. His eyes returned to Zenigata's own.

"No. It's just... Damn Pops, you're just too gorgeous right now." He said warmly. The artlessness of his words was real and wonderful.

"You're so full of crap. I ain't some girl you can sweet talk, Lupin." Zenigata said with a little chuckle but there was tenderness underneath. Pulling Lupin down, he kissed those plush lips. "Now you. You're something else." The words were rumbled between kisses as he ran his hands down that lean clothed torso then back up again, his fingers learning every ridge and rib it could find. "You're rarer than anything you've ever stolen."

The timbre of Zenigata's voice made Lupin's body react and he broke out in shivers. It was similar to the feeling that Lupin felt when Zenigata had brushed Lupin's ear back at Rosebay's palazzo only a hundred times better. But that didn't stop his natural urge to play. 

"Now who's sweet talking?" Lupin teased "That's quite a line you got there. You just might give me a run for my money."

The line had turned Lupin on, though he didn't say so out loud. The unexpectedness of it had made Lupin pulse with a jolt of arousal that delighted him. Lupin sat up and gazed down at Zenigata once again.

"Now let me know if I'm crossing a line. Wouldn't want to go too fast..." He told Zenigata. Lupin slid the tie from its knot and pulled it away from the collar slowly. It dangled in Lupin's hand a moment before he let it slide from his fingers to the floor. Lupin leaned over Zenigata, placing one flat palm on the bedspread by Zenigata's head to support his weight. He began to slowly undo the mother of pearl buttons on the dress shirt, taking his time with each one. He would work one from its buttonhole then peel back the barest fold of fabric to expose the pale skin beneath. Skin so used to being hidden beneath cloth and untouched by strange hands.

Lupin opened three buttons at a go before tucking his fingers beneath and pushing Zenigata's shirt open with a soft caress across his chest. It was agonizingly slow, focused on tactile sensation and stretching the moment into what felt like infinity.

To Zenigata, Lupin looked like some puckish creature of myth. A nymph who had never laid eyes upon a human man and was infinitely fascinated. In comparison to Maggiorana's frenzied handling, Lupin undressed Zenigata slowly and with care. He clearly respected the suit and the man inside it.

For some reason, it felt better to just let Lupin do his work. If he came to his senses after he saw that Zenigata was a soft old man who had lost much of his strength over the years the investigator wouldn't blame him. This felt good. There was no need to rush. Watching Lupin was endlessly entertaining. He was surprised that the more of him that was revealed the more excited Lupin looked. Zenigata rested one hand on the young man's hip. The other hand ran soothingly up the arm that was supporting Lupin. 

"I'm not a disappointment to you, am I?" He asked softly as his shirt opened. The cool night air was thrilling as it brushed over his skin. Almost as thrilling as the way Lupin's eyes ran over every inch of him.

"Not a bit." Lupin replied without missing a beat. He bent down and laid a kiss, purposely long on the giving flesh of Zenigata's solar plexus. Zenigata's body was not rock hard. He had no definition and what could have been considered love handles but they were small ones and his stomach was mostly flat. His life of desk work and cup noodle paired with prolonged bursts of action and running provided by Lupin himself had put Zenigata's body in a cosmetic stalemate that did not know which end to favor and instead held it's ground in neutral territory. Lupin couldn't wait to see the man's legs. He must have legs like a racehorse considering all the time spent chasing the thief.

Lupin wound his arms around Zenigata's middle, under his shirt and pressed his face into Zenigata's upper stomach. He hummed happily into the softness, rubbing his face back and forth then peppering kisses along the edges of Zenigata's rib cage. His eyes flicked up to regard Zenigata.

"You never have been." He added, sweetly. His gentle eyes were full of life.

Zenigata's face was red. He knew his whole face was red because you couldn't just say that and not expect someone to go totally red. The shoulder of Lupin's shirt was the perfect handle to haul him up and kiss him hard. As they kissed Zenigata untucked the younger man's shirt from his pants. His fingers found the first of the buttons as he sucked lightly on Lupin's tongue in his mouth.

Lupin gave a startled yet cheerful little "Woah!" when Zenigata pulled him in. He collapsed across the man's body, kissing back. Zenigata was an astute kisser, Lupin found out and that little piece of knowledge was surprisingly tantalizing. He favored Zenigata with little moans, not airy or submissive. They were the blithe sounds of one at play. Lupin's thumbs stroked Zenigata's temple and along the shell of his ear. With a final swipe of his tongue, Zenigata pulled away ever so slightly. There was a sexiness to the older man's look that even he didn't know he had. 

"You can't say stuff like that and not expect me to kiss ya." He chuckled. His hands were caught between the two of them as Lupin had tumbled onto him while he was only halfway done with the buttons. He spread his hands over the other man's chest. "Take your shirt off. If I gotta be half naked so do you."

"Fair is fair, Pops?" Lupin's asked impishly.

"I mostly just wanna see you with your shirt off." Zenigata said sheepishly. He flexed his hands against Lupin's chest.

"Oh ho, the truth comes out..." Lupin cajoled. He pressed a kiss to Zenigata's mouth then moved to swing a leg over and straddle him. He stayed up on his knees, carefully keeping their sensitive lower halves from touching. He unbuttoned his cuffs, first the right and then the left, running his palm over this thin wrists in a way akin to a magician revealing he had nothing up his sleeves. Then starting from the highest one still fastened, Lupin slowly undid the buttons. He took his time, playing at a burlesque striptease in the way he opened the shirt from one side to flash half his smooth chest before sportively pulling it closed again. He bit his lip and bounced his eyebrow. Lupin was brazen without being crude. He seemed to know just how to skirt the line between flirty and erotic.

At last, he peeled the shirt from his shoulders and let it fall away behind him. He lifted his arms above his head, stretching away some imaginary knot. It was a deliberate move, a pose to give Lupin ample time to be admired before let his palms take the slow, meandering journey along the back of his neck and down his torso and stomach toward his waistband. He opened the catch on his belt buckle and tucked his thumbs under the leather to draw it open. From there, it only took one hand to flick open the button on his slacks. His fingers took the silver tab of his zipper and lowered it, with a syrupy slowness that felt to Zenigata like Lupin was doing it one tooth at a time. Finally, Lupin folded open the flies of his slacks and Zenigata saw the knob of a hip bone peeking out above striped boxer shorts.

Zenigata stared at Lupin's display. He never knew that watching someone take off their clothes could be this fun. He actually never really thought sex was that fun. Zenigata knew it felt good and his body wanted sex but it was something you did then were over and done with. It seemed that with Lupin it wouldn't be like that. 

Once Lupin had finished, Zenigata ran his hands down Lupin's chest, sliding over the hard pectorals and skirting the rosebud pink nipples then lower over the taut stomach, the skin so soft and warm. Zenigata looped an arm around Lupin's waist and sat up enough so their chests were flush. 

"Mmm... Lupin." he mumbled as he peppered kisses over collar bone and neck, sucking and nibbling at his leisure while he held his would be lover in his lap. Lupin did lower himself to sit in Zenigata's lap and he could feel Zenigata's hardness through his pants. He cooed a sigh at that and the touch of Zenigata's mouth on his skin. Lupin couldn't help his devilish smile as he twitched his hips, grinding his clothed groin into Zenigata's lap.

"How's that?" He purred.

"You're so perfect." Zenigata groaned as he kissed the other man's neck. His hand slid up to cup Lupin's shoulder blade keeping their chests completely pressed together. His other hand was pressed to the bed propping himself up. The vibration of a deep groan buzzed from his chest to Lupin's and he heard the other man gasp. His mouth latched onto the juncture between neck and shoulder.

"D-damn, Pops..." Lupin hushed. He rested his hand on Zenigata's forearm with a tender touch. He hooked his other around Zenigata's neck and used the grip as leverage to keep grinding against the man. He rolled his hips with a fluid grace his agility in a fight had only hinted at. The back of his pants, loosened already from being open, crept down his hips with his movements. Lupin exhaled and the sigh tapered into a low affected groan. "Unlike you, sweet talk gets me every time."

A guttural moan slipped from Zenigata's lips. The way Lupin was grinding against him was driving him crazy. Both of his arms, which were stronger than they looked, wrapped around Lupin's waist and in one swift movement he had Lupin on his back. He kissed Lupin hard then knelt up between his legs to shrug off his own shirt. 

"You were driving me nuts the way you were moving." He said before dropping his shirt on the floor and returning to Lupin's lips.

Lupin toed off his shoes as they kissed, keeping his hands occupied by running them along Zenigata's shoulders and sides.

"Well that's... That's kind of the idea." He said between kisses. Lupin squirmed, hoping to get his pants down below his behind so he could kick them off entirely. His touch crept to Zenigata's belt and carefully he began to pull it open. He opened hook and bar closure on the slacks and lingered there, fingers holding the waistband loosely. "May I?" 

"I'm an old man... And it's been some time." Zenigata was blushing again as he pressed his face into Lupin's neck. "I didn't want it to be over too fast. And yeah. Get these damn pants off. I want you."

Following Lupin's lead, his own hands slid down petal soft skin, his fingers bumping over barely seen scars and small imperfections that just made Lupin more tantalizing. One hand rested on the young man's hip bone and the other slid to the small of his back before fingers slipped below the waistbands of trousers and boxers. 

"Tell me to stop and I will." Zenigata reassured Lupin as his hand slid over a firm buttock and his lips brushed over Lupin's chest. Lupin scoffed good-naturedly as he shuffled his feet to get his own slacks down off his legs. They fell off and hit the floor with a muffled thud.

"Oh baby, you could light me on fire right now and I wouldn't tell you to stop." He told the man above him "And that's my line anyhow, Mr. First Timer."

Lupin quickly but clumsily made work of Zenigata's pants and boxers. He couldn't reach to get them entirely off and besides Zenigata still had his shoes on but Lupin worked them down to Zenigata's knees. He wasted no time and brushed his nails ever so lightly over Zenigata's ass and the inside of his thigh as his hands made the return trip up his sides. Zenigata let out a hot puff of air against Lupin's chest. Those hands felt amazing on his skin and the cool night air made shivers run up his spine as it brushed his heated hardness. 

"I have a daughter, ya know. It's not like I've never done anything before. It's just been years since I was with a man." Zenigata was surprised at how honest he was with Lupin. He went back to kissing over Lupin's chest but being hobbled by his pants he almost tumbled forward and knocked their heads together. "Hold on. Hold on." he grumbled as he scooted off the bed. With some difficulties, he yanked off his shoes and stumbled slightly as he removed his pants and boxers. The socks came off last. Standing naked in front of Lupin, he let the other man take him in as if offering him one last chance to back out if he didn't like what he saw.

Lupin sat up and stared. He did nothing to hide the riveted demeanor with which he was looking at the man. Lupin didn't think he would ever be in this position, not in his wildest dreams (well, then again, his dreams on this topic had been pretty wild) so it was breathtaking to see in reality. The way Zenigata's blush rode high on his cheeks as he felt Lupin's eyes raking over him was endearing and it made Lupin feel incredible to know it was him who put Zenigata in such a state. It spurred him on to get things on the road.

Lupin peeled away his boxers and his erection bobbed against his stomach as it came free from its confines. Lupin stripped off his socks as well and quickly took up a pose on the bed, laying on his side and cradling his head in his hand. He crooked a playful finger at Zenigata. It was a look he had unabashedly stolen from Fujiko but if it had the same effect on Pops as it had on him, Lupin would be remiss to not keep it in his arsenal.

"Well then, why don't you hop on and we'll see if it's like riding a bicycle?" He asked in a husky voice.

Zenigata had never jumped into bed so fast in his life. He scrambled on excitedly and lay facing Lupin. Pulling Lupin into his arms, he hummed his happiness as their chests touched and their hardened members brushed against each other. He kissed Lupin, one hand cupping the thin man's face while the other slid down Lupin's back, over his ass and down to his thigh. With gentle pressure, Zenigata hooked Lupin's leg over his hip. One of his own legs slid between Lupin's legs and with slow movements he rubbed their erections together.

"Oh, Lupin..." he moaned against those perfect lips.

Lupin moaned into Zenigata's mouth. He placed an arm around Zenigata and clasped his shoulder to return the movements. The pleasure was sweet and distinctive. It could come from no one else, in Lupin's opinion, than Zenigata. He knew that without question. It was as easy to grasp as knowing anything about himself. From an outside view, one could make the mistake in thinking that Lupin and Zenigata were completely different but Lupin understood and known the man long enough to know better. They were not like day and night. They were like dawn and dusk, both equally filled with their own light and shadow. The same if not from different perspectives.

Lupin soon slipped his fingertips lightly down the length of Zenigata's surprisingly strong arm to take his hand. He laced their fingers and brought them to his mouth. He kissed the top of the inspector's hand then each knuckle with a deliberate languid sensuality, occasionally giving a little pleasured groan into it. The kisses were delivered with all the passion Lupin had only hinted at back at the palazzo.

A dreamy look was in Zenigata's eyes as he watched Lupin, his hips still working at that slow heady speed. Those lips he had dreamed of for weeks were so beautiful against the knuckles of his hand. A thought slipped into Zenigata's mind. How many times had those same knuckles been swung in anger against Lupin? How many times had he tried to hurt this man? 

Of course, at the beginning of this chase of theirs it had been malicious but as the years mellowed so had he. It had been about a sense of glory in his younger years but now it was duty. He had been charged with Lupin's capture and that was what he would do. Bring the man in one piece and breathing so he could serve his time. He was a thief, not a murderer. There was still hope that he could be turned to the straight and narrow. Then maybe Zenigata could have that drink with him. 

Well, that has been the plan. Now it was all derailed. He was smitten, or at least that was the word he was ready to use. Part of his brain still railed at him that this was some trick or way to garner favor but the way Lupin looked at him seemed to prove there was no ill intent here. 

Zenigata rested his head on the pillow and caressed the side of Lupin's face. It made his heart throb as Lupin turned his cheek into the touch. "We don't have to go any further. I don't have anything to make it easier for you. I don't wanna hurt you."

"You keep talking like you're the one afraid to go on." Lupin said with a sweet kind of wheedling in his voice. He lifted Zenigata's hand and pressed a final kiss to the inside of his wrist. He delighted in the thump of Zenigata's pulse there. Lupin untangled their fingers but still held on. He kissed the pads of each of Zenigata's fingers and it was almost chaste.

"In all our years, you've never hurt me. Well, nothing substantial." He added with a touch of self-aware humor. "Why would you start now?"

"I know. I just..." Zenigata stuttered. What was holding him back? Lupin didn't have virtues that needed protecting. He wasn't some young girl who didn't know what she was asking for. Then it hit him. He wasn't protecting Lupin. He was protecting himself. Those walls Lupin had talked about were more real than even he had known. This man made him want to rip them down. 

"I don't wanna mess this up." He said quietly. His hips stilled and he looked serious for just a moment before he gave Lupin a slightly sterner look. "We almost killed each other a few times. You forget about that?"

Lupin seemed to dismiss that thought as soon as it reached him. He was itching for Zenigata to start moving again but didn't push.

"Yeah but we also saved each other's bacon quite a bit. Morroco, Alcatraz. Hell, you saved me from getting my skull ventilated by Rosebay and that was just a few weeks ago." Lupin lifted his head from the cradle of his hand and fixed Zenigata with an expression that dared the man to explain that away. "I've seen every corner of this planet and stared death in the face more than I can count and you think I wouldn't try with you for fear of messing up my chances? I wouldn't worry for a second and I know for a fact that you shouldn't either."

Zenigata smiled and leaned up to kiss Lupin. "You're too young to be giving me life advice ya know..." He teased as their lips met and he hummed his happiness. When the kiss broke, Lupin's smile all but curled at the edges and it was mesmerizing in its candor.

"And you're too old to be looking back, Pops." He retorted. Lupin hitched his leg up a bit higher over Zenigata's hip. The move made his already long legs look that much more lithe and it drew the eye across the curve of his ass. Lupin kissed Zenigata's palm then put the man's first two fingers in his mouth. He worked his tongue around and between them and the slick slide of it felt beautifully obscene. After a few minutes of this, Lupin drew the digits from his mouth and brought Zenigata's hand down and around his ass to lightly touch the tight ring of muscle there.

"Do you need me to coach you? No shame if you do." Lupin offered.

"Just tell me if I'm going too fast, ok?" Zenigata kissed Lupin. Starting slow he used his fingertips to massage the tight hole. He slid the tip of his tongue into his lover's mouth as he gently pressed in his finger, slowly working in and out. Every press in sank just a bit deeper. Lupin pushed back onto the intrusion almost immediately. Zenigata's fingers were thicker than he was expecting and it felt wonderful. An airy moan spilled from his mouth into Zenigata's.

"Bend your finger a bit." He hushed against Zenigata's lips. When the inspector did as he was told, he pressed into a bundle of nerves that made Lupin's body break out in goosebumps. His head dropped back.

"There!" He gasped quietly "Rub...rub there a minute."

Those heady little moans and gasps were amazing. Zenigata's hips began their slow grind once more as he rubbed that spot inside Lupin. 

"Tell me when you want more." He rumbled against those sweet lips before stealing another moan filled kiss. The thief was exquisite in his passion and Zenigata knew he'd never get enough of this. Lupin clutched Zenigata's bicep and dropped his chin to his chest. His breath picked up, rattling through his chest and emptying out his nose.

"More? Don't tell me that. I have zero impulse control... and you know it..." Lupin shivered. Even as swiftly affected as Lupin was he still wanted everything to have an element of play. His brash humor was tied to his very being and he found that sex could be a lot of things but too sacred to be fun was not one of them. "I always want more..."

Lupin was an old hand at receiving from men and could get himself ready in a pretty efficient manner but when he let someone else prep him, he liked to take his time and give over to the feelings. It was after all another step in foreplay and the importance of foreplay was the hill Lupin the Third could die on.

"Take your time....the sun won't rise until we say so..." Lupin let his eyes close as a bolt of sweet pleasure rode a slow-motion arc up his spine like it was a lightning rod. His moan was deep and throaty. "Deeper..."

Zenigata pushed his finger deeper and kissed Lupin's forehead. "You might be able to wait all night but I've been dreaming about this for a month." His hips bucked a bit harder. His free arm looped under Lupin's shoulder and held him tight, moaning softly against the other man's temple.

"Just a month?" Lupin cracked open an eye. He put a tender hand on the back of Zenigata's neck and urged their eyes to meet. "You got off easy. I've had it bad for you for years..."

To some that would be an admission too vulnerable to make on the first night in a new lover's bed, especially after such an explicit confession of emotion just before. But Lupin was not ashamed. Lupin knew his big heart was both his proudest quality and his biggest weakness. He had been accused of falling in love too easily by Jigen and Fujiko and even, in his short, overly to the point way, Goemon. Maybe it was true but Lupin's love was his to give as willingly and as often as he liked. Sex was wonderful, attraction exquisite but love was greatest of all in Lupin's eyes. Zenigata blinked in surprise. 

"Me?" he asked as he stalled his motions. "You've really thought of me like that for so long?" He almost couldn't believe it but it was all there in Lupin's eyes. All true. All caring. It nearly took the inspectors breath away.

"I filled a very secure building with fresh cut flowers for you. It's not something you'd hesitate to call premeditated." Lupin's choice words didn't cut the affection with which he said them. "Just took them taking you away from me to do something about it..."

Lupin squirmed and added in a voice that was far more cute than tormented: "Don't stop now. In fact, hit me with another one. You're the one who wants to get this show on the road so badly."

Zenigata blushed. He was humbled by this. That the great thief had thought of him in a romantic sense was almost mind boggling. He kissed Lupin hard and added his second finger. It was an arousing thought that a man as wanted as Lupin had, in fact, wanted him for so long. He bent his fingers the way he had before and found that little bundle of nerves that had made Lupin gasp so beautifully.

Lupin let the arm he was holding himself up with go limp and he pressed the side of his face into the pillow. He dug his heel into Zenigata's hip and his toes flexed. He made a decadent sound from behind his teeth. His hand snaked down between them and he lightly swept it along their rubbing lengths. He never stroked but was so bold as to gently twist his palm over the heads, squeezing the sensitive glands against each other a moment.

"Ah!" Zenigata moaned at the touch to his member. He pressed his fingers in deeper and slowly scissored them apart to make sure he was properly stretched. "You keep telling me not to hurry then you do things like that." He chuckled before kissing up Lupin's jaw.

Lupin bit his lip. He continued to graze over the hot sensitive flesh with feather light touches.

"Mmm... You're so high strung, pops. Some things never change." Lupin turned his face into the pillow, moaning with the sensitivity of his entrance. That dreamy look slid back into place as Zenigata watched Lupin moan. He moved his fingers in the same way as he had before to make him make that blessed sound again.

"Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've been with someone? To have it be you makes it even better." He chuckled. Zenigata couldn't remember ever laughing in bed. Sex was serious business or so he'd been told. He was thinking that was not a factual statement as he nuzzled Lupin's cheek and said. "Kiss me."

Lupin did as he was told, pulling Zenigata down to him to kiss him with slow hot passes of his tongue and lips. He wrapped his arms around the other man, pulling their bodies tight to one another. The breeze coming in the open balcony doors ghosted over his overheating skin and made his whole frame shake.

"Well I think it's about time to break that streak..." Lupin thrummed inches from Zenigata's lips, sharing the hot breath of their closeness. 

"Please!" Zenigata said. It was a bit comical and light-hearted. He rubbed that sweet spot inside Lupin again. "I want you. I've wanted you longer than I knew."

"Damn, Pops." Lupin arched his back again. Not only was Zenigata's touch driving him wild but his impassioned words made his heart thud and his head swim. "Well, I won't leave you in suspense any longer. Get on your back. I'll take the wheel."

Lupin kissed Zenigata's mouth one more time and moved to disentangle himself from their pile. He sighed when Zenigata withdrew his fingers and he reared back on his knees to press the globe of his buttocks into Zenigata's waiting palm. It felt like such a cheeky thing to do but Zenigata gave into temptation and gave Lupin's rear a little squeeze before rolling into his back. He smiled up at Lupin and ran a hand over the other man's hip.

Lupin straddled the man with all the grace of a jockey stepping up into the saddle. He bent over to kiss Zenigata's chest and collar bone and couldn't help the urge to wiggle his behind against Zenigata's aching length. His own member was brushing the hair along Zenigata's pubic bone and it made him shiver with delight.

At last, Lupin straightened out and shuffled back a bit to position himself over Zenigata. He licked his palm and reached behind him to take Zenigata's hardness in hand. He stroked it a moment spreading saliva over the length then slowly lowered himself, smooth as silk down on it. He exhaled slowly as he did so, a look of bliss across his features. Zenigata's eyes rolled back as Lupin slid down on to him. He was so hot and tight and it was Lupin. His big hands ran up Lupin's thighs as he tried not to buck his hips. That was a challenge though. 

"You feel so damn good." He groaned. "Oh yes."

Lupin was sitting there, eyes closed, getting used to the fullness. He wore a look of peaceful pleasure on his face. His smile curled at the edges like a house cat in a sunbeam.

"And I haven't even started moving yet." He hushed. He placed his hands over Zenigata's own. They were thin and delicate and capable of such devious work but resting so lightly over the top of Zenigata's hands, those fingers felt like they were only made to provide felicity. His pose was almost meditative. He tensed his muscles around Zenigata and cracked one mischievous eye open to watch his reaction. Zenigata gasped and his hips bucked automatically. His hands squeezed Lupin's skinny thighs and his eyes closed. 

"Holy crap." He groaned. It felt amazing. "Damn Lupin, you're gonna kill me." He joked.

"Stay with me, inspector." Lupin said through a throaty affected laugh. The surge of Zenigata's hips had launched a spike of pleasure through him as well and Lupin was doing his best to play it cool. Lupin began to move. It was at first just a careful rocking; a type of prelude of what was to come but after a short time of this, Lupin gingerly lifted his hips and started in on a true thrust.

"There's no place else I'd rather be, Lupin." Zenigata moaned as Lupin began to move. Closing his eyes the inspector calmed his breathing and tried to focus on all of Lupin. He didn't want this to be over embarrassingly fast. After a moment he looked up at the man on top of him. "I ain't going anywhere. You're stuck with me." He rumbled as he smiled. His hands were moving again. Up over hips and stomach. Caressing Lupin's chest as if worshipping.

Lupin let Zenigata's hands wander, skating his own palms over his wrists and forearms as the inspector touched him. Zenigata's hands were not calloused per se, but there was a roughness there that spoke of a life too fast paced to stop for any kind of pampering. They were utilitarian hands that did not indulge in self-care but they were strong and sure and felt delectable on Lupin's skin.

"I never have been able to shake you..." Lupin cooed. He held Zenigata at the elbows and used the man as an anchor so he could bounce himself with a little more gusto on Zenigata's length.

"Ah. Yes." For a moment Zenigata lost control as Lupin moved faster. His back arched and his eyes slid shut and he sighed. Lupin was so soft and warm under his hands. There were scars but they were small and only added to his beauty. Looking up at Lupin, he moved his hands to those peaked pink nipples. He ran his thumb over one to gauge Lupin's reaction. "And you ain't ever gonna if I have anything to say about it."

Lupin worried his lower lip and moaned. He leaned into the touch, not letting go of his newly established rhythm. This felt exquisite. Lupin was nothing if not confident but he had not exactly shown up tonight expecting things to go so well. He had hoped. Hope was always something Lupin had in abundant supply but there always had to be an exit strategy, a backup plan for your back up plan. He was elated he hadn't had to run off into the night for he had wanted this so bad it made his teeth hurt and suspected that Zenigata had wanted it too. Perhaps it was the immense relief that was partly responsible for the shivers running all through his body. After all the hard fought reward tasted the best.

When Zenigata got a reaction for his teasing he pushed it further. He pinched and rolled the sensitive bundle of flesh. He had always been good with his hands and now was no exception. He wanted to learn every inch of Lupin and make him scream. Zenigata wanted to give Lupin pleasures he'd never had before. He would love the thief with his body as long as he had him. The words were still too new and real and raw right now but he truly hoped he could show this amazing man how much he truly cared.

Now Lupin's mouth fell open and he gave a sharp little cry. The touch excited him but distantly the concept of actually experiencing Zenigata as a sexual being was the major turn on. He did know what he was doing and Lupin was a little embarrassed in thinking the inspector, while not a virgin certainly, was pretty clueless to the bedroom. Theory and practice were two different things and feeling the teasing touch so sure was better than any dream or fantasy Lupin had had.

Lupin added a roll to his hips as he moved, coming down a little harder on the downstroke each time. Rolling his hips into the thrust, Zenigata switched to the other nipple. He rolled and pinched this one like he did the other, watching Lupin's face all the while. It was intoxicating that he could do this to a man like Lupin. 

"Feel good?" He asked around a groan, his head tilting back against the pillow.

"Feels great!" Lupin agreed. He rolled his head, breath coming a little harder. He eyed Zenigata through a look of half-lidded lust. "You're doing amazing, Pops..."

Lupin's shoulders tensed and they drew up a moment when Zenigata swirled the pad of his index finger over his hardened nipple but they fell back down as Lupin exhaled through a long low moan. Lupin leaned forward, hands coming down on the front of Zenigata's shoulders and he locked his knees to let Zenigata push up into him. He looked into Zenigata's eyes and licked his lips. Zenigata grinned and it was so wolfish that if he could see himself he almost wouldn't recognize his own face. 

"Come here." His voice was almost a growl as he gave up the nipple he was teasing. He wrapped his arms around Lupin to pull him flush before digging his heels into the bed and giving slow powerful thrusts. He kissed Lupin deep and wanting. Lupin crumpled into Zenigata's embrace, his arms folded, becoming trapped between their bodies but he didn't care. He spread his legs a bit more. Zenigata's onslaught was ardent and intense. Lupin kissed Zenigata hard until he was forced to come up for air. It came out as a series of panting moans. The new angle was hitting something in Lupin that was fiercely satisfying and was leaving him pretty thunderstruck.

Those big hands spread over Lupin's back and held him so tight to Zenigata. He kissed over the long throat, biting and nibbling. It was so sexy to see those little marks appear on Lupin's throat. Marks that would stay after. Proof that this was real. Lupin lifted his head, exposing his neck that much more to Zenigata's mouth. His eyes were screwed shut and he was keening now, his trapped hands clenched Zenigata's shoulders.

"There.... don't stop...." He gulped.

Zenigata was glad for the larger bed in the room for once. He rolled the both of them over then slid his arms out from underneath Lupin. He braced his hands against the bed so he could thrust harder and deeper. Looking down at the younger man he moaned "You feel better than I could have imagined. You're perfect."

Lupin instinctively lifted his legs, putting his feet over Zenigata's hips. He did likewise with his arms, wrapping them around Zenigata's neck. He clung to the man desperately.

"All this sweet talk... Is going to give me a swelled head, Pops. Never... Never pegged you as a romantic..." He laughed and it tapered off in a moan. Once he had said it, it seemed a silly notion. Of course with Zenigata's boundless passion for all he did, it would be obvious that it would extend to his lovemaking.

"Maybe it's you. Maybe you do this to me." Zenigata said as he nuzzled the side of Lupin's face to his ear. Kissing up the shell of that big ear that was so Lupin, his pace slowed but still with power in each thrust. "I've never wanted anything as much as I've wanted you." He groaned into his lover's ear.

Lupin's whole body shook from that voice, dark and hot as black coffee, moaning in his ear. The pleasure was slow building but it was steady and pulling Lupin along towards a climax that was still on the horizon but perhaps not as far as Lupin guessed. He panted and cried out. He pressed his face into Zenigata's neck and felt a hard working pulse on his skin. Lupin's legs closed around Zenigata's waist and he locked his ankles.

Zenigata's pace sped up as he felt himself get closer and closer to orgasm. The pleasure felt like it was tingling through every inch of his body. He clutched Lupin to himself and groaned into Lupin's ear. The other man's sex was trapped between their bodies and there was something so sexy about feeling how much Lupin wanted him that was driving him higher. 

"I'm getting close." He moaned in Lupin's ear. Lupin was puffing hot breath against Zenigata's skin. He nodded his head in the crook of Zenigata's shoulder and neck in acknowledgment then gathered Zenigata's face in his hands and turned him to look into his face. Their foreheads gently knocked against each other in time with Zenigata's thrusts. Lupin kissed him, with full luscious attention.

"Yes..!" He sobbed between kisses. The inspector's body was rubbing against Lupin's hardness in a mix of pressure and sweat and unbearable need. "Yes..."

"Inside you?" Zenigata asked. He was holding on, waiting for Lupin to give him the go ahead. That question made him blush but he hoped Lupin wouldn't notice and that he'd understand what he meant.

"Don't you dare pull out...! Feels too good...!" Lupin cried disjointedly. His body was tensing up all over and the readiness to snap was wonderful and horrible and Lupin wanted it to last. He pushed his head back into the mattress and clenched his jaw, moaning through his teeth.

The idea of orgasming inside of Lupin was so taboo and erotic to the inspector. Filling his old nemesis, claiming him with his seed and sweat spurred him on. Zenigata kissed every inch of Lupin's long throat as he exposed it. His pace picking up as he lost himself in the sexy moans his partner was making. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He chanted as his hips pounded into the man beneath him.

Lupin wrapped his arms around Zenigata's head loosely. He fingers threaded through the tight hair at Zenigata's crown. He was sobbing with pleasure now, his usually clever words swallowed up by continuous inarticulate sounds of elation. He pushed his shoulders so hard back into the bed it was as if gravity were pulling him towards the planet's center. The hard straining of Lupin's body could only last so long however and at last with a final all consuming rigidity of all his muscles so strong Lupin's face all but went red, Lupin was coming and the waves were crashing over him, molten and melting and amazing. 

Between the look of pure abandon on Lupin's face and the feel of hot liquid spilling between them, Zenigata didn't stand a chance. One hand moved down to Lupin's hip and pinned him there as he slammed in those few last ragged thrusts. He was pretty sure he was hitting that spot inside the younger man with each thrust because of the ragged gasps they pulled from him. Zenigata pressed his face into the crook of Lupin's neck and moaned and gasped through his orgasm. Lupin's tight muscles milked his throbbing hardness as he emptied himself inside. His body shook and he panted "Lupin..." before collapsing on the other man.

The thief let his limbs fall away to the bed as if he were a trap sprung and now released. They felt heavy and boneless it was wonderful Lupin tried to bring his breathing back down gradually. He enjoyed the way Zenigata's solid body rose and fell on the sea of his own frame and Lupin lightly rested one palm on the back of Zenigata's head. He rolled his head to bury his nose in the man's hair, smelling hotel travel shampoo and Zenigata's own naturally light scent.

Zenigata pressed his face into Lupin's neck, adoring the feel of the other men's skin on his overheated face. He was panting and he could feel the sweat cooling down his back. Through all this Zenigata was only thinking about how this would be better if he was a younger man so they could do this again sooner. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. Lifting his head he kissed Lupin as he pulled out of him. He groaned against his lover's lips.

Lupin answered Zenigata with a weak cry of his own. He was oversensitive and his body was tingling with the afterglow. That was a good word for it, he mused to himself. Lupin felt like he was humming with incandescent electricity. He said nothing, not wanting to be the one to break the silence. He just held Zenigata's forehead to his own and closed his eyes, smiling contentedly and absorbing the atmosphere while it was still there. 

This closeness was more than the inspector could have dreamed of. Lupin wasn't pushing him away or running out the door. There were no smart ass comments or jokes. Finally, Zenigata let himself believe that Lupin wanted him. His love had not been some joke. He smiled softly and chuckled to himself. Lupin was the last person he ever thought he'd fall in love with but he had. Now saying it was another matter. That was hard and he hoped Lupin would understand if he could never really say it. Even when he felt it so strongly now.

The sound of Zenigata's laugh made Lupin open his eyes.

"You okay?" He asked looking up at the man in concern though he was too close to actually see.

"Better than okay." Zenigata said with a smile. "It's just... I never thought this would actually happen. That you'd actually want me." He brought a hand up and caressed Lupin's cheek with the back of his knuckles. "That I'd feel like this with you." He added with a shy look.

Lupin's heart joined the collection of his organs that currently felt like so much dissolved goo. He was sure the expression on his face had to be absolutely dopey but he didn't care in the slightest. He was besotted and down for the count.

"And here I was thinking you always expected the unexpected." He managed to put forth a coherent thought and that surprised him.

"You keep me on my toes remember? If I could expect what you can come up with I'd have caught you years ago." Zenigata answered. His hand stopped moving. His expression was serious and a tad forlorn. "What do we do now?" He asked softly, his eyes scanning Lupin's face.

"I was thinking a smoke," Lupin glanced down at his body, sticky with sweat and his and Zenigata's seed. "And a shower. Definitely a shower."

As much as he hated the idea, Zenigata had to move. He couldn't lay on Lupin all night, as appealing as it was, and they did need to talk. He groaned as he rolled over. His body was stiff from exertion. 

"You know what I meant." It came out a little exasperated but it had every right to be. This was serious. Lupin's eyebrows crinkled in disappointment.

"You don't want to know what we do now. You want to know what we do in the morning." He said it mildly enough but as Lupin looked up at the ceiling, from the corner of his eye, Zenigata could see Lupin's mind was working fiercely.

"Of course that's what I meant." Zenigata answered with a sigh. His big hand found Lupin's and he clasped it in his. "Didn't know you were going to spend the night." The smile he offered Lupin was tinged with sadness. Lupin smiled and put one hand behind his head. He still scrutinized the ceiling.

"'I must be gone and live, or stay and die'?" Lupin said it in a way that hinted they were not his words but rather a quote from a long dead poet. Zenigata gave Lupin an exasperated sigh and turned to look at him without letting go of Lupin's hand. 

"I'm serious. If anyone finds out it's my job. This is collusion. We'll end up in jail together. So enough of your flowery words already."

"Would that be so bad? If I had to be put away, you'd make a pretty nice cellmate." Lupin's eyes flicked over to Zenigata and his smile was unflappable. "And I'm a gentleman. I certainly never kiss and tell."

Lupin knew his quick wit was not what Zenigata wanted from him but it was Lupin's way and he felt like it was sorely needed. The evening had been surreal and intriguing like an out of body experience where each man's physical absence had been replaced by the vacancy of their standing in society. They had stopped being a thief and a cop the moment Zenigata had kissed Lupin and had only existed as humans. That simplicity was wonderful to Lupin and he wanted Zenigata to rest without that pressure for as long as possible.

"I'm supposed to capture you and put you in jail." Zenigata pulled his hand free and sat up a little. "I can't do that now. It's not like it was before. I'm too young to retire. What do we do about this?"

Lupin never thought he'd hear those words. The thought of Zenigata willingly admitting to being unable to arrest Lupin was bizarre and it honestly concerned him more than he thought it would. It was a thought that could spell the end of an era. Lupin pushed the concept from his mind, unwilling to believe it.

Instead, he sat up himself and placed his long fingers at the nape of Zenigata's neck to pull him in and capture his lips in a soft kiss. It was filled with an affectionate tranquility that stripped Zenigata of all resistance the moment it connected. He took his time, keeping things chaste and subdued; not questing with his tongue or nibbling with his teeth. Just a simple prolonged kiss that was unlike all the rest that had come before it that night. Lupin was the one to end it and he studied Zenigata's face a moment before he said:

"I'm going to kiss you every time you ask that so I'll be occupied and we won't have to worry about the answer. That's a problem for after sunrise." It was painfully guileless in its own smart-alecky way. He outstretched his hand and spoke again in the tone of an orator before a large crowd. "'For it is not yet near day. It was the nightingale and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.'"

Lupin's hand came to rest on Zenigata's hip with intimate familiarity. He winked.

"Sorry to say but flowery language comes standard with the Lupin the Third romance package."

The wink was enough to undo Zenigata. He sighed and leaned his forehead against Lupin's "I suppose I'll have to get used to it then." He smiled a little but there was still a part of him that wanted to know what he should do in the morning though he supposed he could compartmentalize. The time he spent here with Lupin wasn't the same as out there. He supposed he could live with that. "You wanted a shower and a smoke earlier. Want me to join you?"

"I was hoping you would." Lupin's smiled was all but blinding. He jovially patted Zenigata's hip. He rolled out of bed in the opposite direction. He crossed around the bed's wrought iron footboard and casually took Zenigata's hand as the man rose to his feet. He guided him to the bathroom and flicked the switch. Only when he went to fiddle with the shower's knobs did he release Zenigata's hand from his grasp.

They stood under the spray of the shower and Lupin kissed Zenigata's mouth with a slow distracting gentleness, never allowing the man's mind to wander beyond the heat of the steam and the taste of the water on Lupin's lips. It was not meant to arouse (both men felt too spent for that anyway) but rather as a technique to keep Zenigata in the moment and forget about the world outside the walls of his hotel room. 

The water from the shower felt good on Zenigata's skin. Almost as good as Lupin's lips. He let himself be kissed and told himself not to think too much. That Lupin always had a plan in the end and he could trust in him. The two men washed each other while taking liberties to linger and kiss. It felt good and real. So simple in the moment. They toweled off, once again taking the time to touch and tease. Afterward, Zenigata turned to Lupin and said "It's probably safe enough for us to smoke on the balcony without being seen. Maybe put on some pants just to be safe."

Lupin made a noise between a scoff and a guffaw. He sauntered out of the bathroom and found his pants in their crumpled heap on the floor. He bent over at the waist to retrieve them. He could feel Zenigata's eyes on him. He was leaning out from the bathroom doorway and Lupin's move was a deliberate provocation. Lupin stood and fished in his back pocket where he found his pack of cigarettes and his lighter. He then just as deliberately dropped his pants back on the floor in a heap. His belt buckle clunked on the floor. Lupin strutted around the bed with the demeanor of someone with a mental metronome that was permanently stuck on a cool jazzy cymbal laden rhythm. He fished a cigarette out of the pack with his teeth as he passed the desk, where he stood a moment studying Zenigata's notes and the paper cups each with their jonquil and lupine. He lit his cigarette and picked up the coffee cup with the still mostly fresh flowers in it. The freshest ones were still on Zenigata's lapel but these were only starting to lose their luster. He turned the cup this way and that as if studying it with little real interest as he drew smoke into his lungs and released it out his nose. He also stuck his hip out alluringly but did nothing else to acknowledge the man for whom which he was grandstanding. At last, Lupin sunk to first sit on then lounge across the bed, lighter and cigarette pack in one hand and the little cup of flowers in the other.

He did look at Zenigata then and his look was a friendly dare to tell him to get up. He waved his cigarette pack at Zenigata by way of wordless offering then went back to inspecting the flowers more closely.

That little display Lupin had just put on was quite enticing to Zenigata. He wondered vaguely if all of Lupin's lovers had been treated to a show like that. It didn't take him long to decide that he wanted to be in that bed with Lupin more than anything right now. With a big grin, he sat on the bed beside Lupin. Taking the other man's wrist in hand he plucked the pack and lighter from it before placing a kiss on the thief's inner wrist. He then pulled out a cigarette and lit up. 

"Whatcha looking at?" He asked as he took a puff and tossed the lighter on the bedside table.

Lupin took a long pull on his cigarette then exhaled gratefully. There was nothing like a cigarette after lovemaking, Lupin thought. Maybe that smoke first thing in the morning but even that paled in comparison when you considered first thing in the morning came every day. He plucked the cigarette from his mouth and delicately picked at the petals, righting imaginary folds and imperfections.

"You kept them." He mused. His eyebrows knit together and his face morphed into a wry amused expression. He looked at Zenigata with a smug knowledge. It bordered on diabolical. "You took these from my crime scene..."

Zenigata blushed. "well... I... Uh..." he tried to distract himself by looking for an ashtray. He knew it was probably on his desk but it was easier to say all this while turned away from Lupin. He got off the bed and walked over to the desk. "They were for me, weren't they? I knew they'd end up in evidence so I took a couple. Doesn't hurt anyone, I guess." Giving himself time before he turned around to face Lupin, Zenigata dumped the ashtray's contents into the small trash can. "You wanted me to have them, didn't you?"

Lupin was not swayed.

"You took them! Police evidence and you stole them from a crime scene!" Lupin sounded overjoyed and he cackled, sending plumes of cigarette smoke into the air. He continued to hiss laughter through his teeth as he bit down on the filter and fished out the flowers. He put down the cup on the bedside table and laid back in bed. He held the flowers up at arm's length above him and admired the glow of the petals in the moonlight. He tucked his other arm behind his head.

Zenigata turned back to the bed. He was about to yell at Lupin but when he saw him he stopped. He was beautiful in the moonlight with that look of childlike wonder on his face. 

"They weren't stolen. They were a gift." It came out of Zenigata's mouth before he could stop himself. It was too late now. "You said none of the presents you gave me were stolen so I had every right to take them." 

This was rationalizing the situation but Zenigata was too sated to really care at this point. He returned to the bed and placed the ashtray beside Lupin as he resumed his seat.

"Ooh, how shrewd of you, my dear inspector." Lupin said around his cigarette. He removed it from his mouth and ashed it into the tray. He took another quick drag then left it in the ashtray to smolder. "That's quite the airtight argument."

Lupin turned the blooms this way and that then brought them close to enjoy their scent, lightened with the flowers' age but still sweet like honey. He proceeded to sit up and look at Zenigata with those gentle dark eyes. He brought the jonquil to his lips and kissed the yellow trumpet tenderly. That done, Lupin tucked the flower behind Zenigata's ear. He put the blue sprig of lupine behind his own ear. The look on the other man's face but have been something because Lupin broke out in a fond little grin.

"Well, I'm very happy you like my gifts." He told Zenigata. He was all winsome poise and polish. 

Zenigata couldn't help it. He placed his cigarette in the ashtray and moved it to the bedside table. With that danger out of the way, Zenigata tackled Lupin to the bed. He kissed the other man soundly. The jonquil behind his ear slipped forward ever so slightly and brushed the lupine behind the ear of the man who bore its name. "I like your gifts very much. Thank you."

Lupin laughed musically until he was silenced by Zenigata's lips. Lupin draped his arms over Zenigata's shoulders and held on. When the kiss was over, Lupin sunk into the plushness of the mattress. Lupin yawned deeply, his body's previous effort finally catching up to him. Zenigata's weight on top of him felt reassuring and pleasant. 

"You're... welcome, Pops." Lupin's response was split by another yawn. He let his eyes flutter closed for a moment. With a soft smile, Zenigata removed himself from Lupin's grasp and stood. He plucked the flowers from behind their ears and placed them back in their cup. Once they were safely deposited he scooped Lupin up, bridal style. 

"Pull down the blanket. My hands are full." He teased. It was lame but it made him happy.

"You're supposed to carry me over the threshold before we make love." Lupin said nothing else about Zenigata's gesture. He was just happy the man was playing along. He reached down and, taking the edge of the rumpled comforter, tossed it back. His arm instinctively returned to loop around Zenigata's neck.

"Didn't peg you as a traditionalist." Zenigata chuckled before kissing Lupin and laying him in the bed. He climbed in beside the other man, smiling like the cat who caught the canary. He couldn't believe he was in bed with Lupin the Third, master thief and expert lover. He nuzzled Lupin's cheek and kissed up one ear before turning over and closing his eyes.

Lupin yawned and slung his arm over Zenigata's waist. He pressed his forehead into Zenigata's back between his shoulder blades. He snuggled in against the man.

"I'll just keep on surprising you. Keeps you on your toes..." He sighed half in sleep already.

  
Early morning in Venice was a beautiful thing. It was cool out with the morning breeze and the sun just cresting over the buildings. The breeze rushed into Zenigata's hotel room and slowly brought him back to consciousness. The inspector made a soft sound as he started to wake up. Not quite annoyance but not quite happy to be awake. The scent of citrus and pepper drifted to him. Lupin's cologne. Zenigata smiled as he remembered what had transpired last night. They had made love. It had been wonderful and scary and perfect. Lupin had meant it when he said he loved Zenigata and, though he hadn't been able to say the words outright, the inspector had professed his feelings too. 

Without opening his eyes Zenigata slid his hand across the mattress in search of his lover. His intention was to pull Lupin close and hold him in his arms. Maybe they would make love again like they had the night before. But his hand found nothing but empty sheets. 

Finally, he opened his eyes and looked to the place where Lupin's body should be, warm and languid from sleep, ready to be loved again by his partner but the mattress was bare and the sheets pulled up. The floor was the next place he looked. The clothes that had been tossed there in haste to see the other's body were gone. All of them. Hanging on the handle of the closet door, neatly reassembled by a deft hand, was Zenigata's gray suit but Lupin's clothes, like their owner, were nowhere to be seen. 

Zenigata lay back on the bed in a defeated way. He had been tricked again. How could he ever think that Lupin would love him; Would want to stay in his bed and hold him until the sun came up? He sighed and wondered how long it would last. This awful pining he felt for the man he was supposed to put in jail. 

With one more sigh, he turned his head and looked at the pillow Lupin had rested his head on. Zenigata blinked in surprise as he saw there was something there. A tiny twig of flowers attached to a stick pin and a pocket-sized book.

He sat up and looked at the small cluster of pale blue flowers with yellow tinged centers. They were small and delicate and Zenigata was careful as he picked them up off the pillow. He knew this flower. Forget-me-knots. Remembering the story Lupin told him last night Zenigata chuckled. Well, these flowers didn't hide their meaning. _Don't forget what happened last night. Don't forget how we felt. don't forget how much it all meant._

He smiled and turned his attention to the little booklet that had been beside the flowers. The cover was tan and discreet and adorned with a scratchy drawing of a bouquet of flowers in black. Above that was the title: "The Language Of Flowers." It would fit perfectly in the inside pocket of his coat. Flipping through it he stopped at forget-me-knot though he supposed he had figured this one out. 

The book read: _Forget-Me-Knot - Do not forget me, True love_

Zenigata's heart thumped in his chest and he could barely hold back the giddy smile that spread across his face. True love was a beautiful thing and he was happy to enjoy it. 

When he left the hotel that day he wore his customary suit with his trench coat. The inner pocket held the booklet and the lapel of his suit had the forget-me-knots pinned there. He could cover it with his trench coat if he noticed anyone looking. As he was about to leave his room, he grabbed his hat and was suddenly hit with the scent of Lupin's cologne again. It was on his hat. He imagined Lupin creeping around the room in the dawn light, picking up clothes and leaving hints of his presence behind. There was a vague memory of a tender kiss at his temple while he was still mostly asleep and Zenigata treasured it. He put on his hat that smelled of Lupin and he could just hear the thief's voice in his head. 

' _Forget me not, my dear inspector_.' It said in Lupin's playful way. 

He stepped out the door and started the walk to the precinct of the Italian police. He wondered if he'd see Maggiorana again before he'd move on. There wasn't any doubt in Zenigata's mind that Lupin had moved on from Italy. In the next twenty-four hours, he'd get a phone call saying that the task force was to be moved on and he would go. He wondered where Lupin would take them next. He smiled as he wondered how many gardens in the world there were and how many of them he could make love to his thief in. 


End file.
